Revenge, Thou Art A Wickedness
by Miss Pibbles
Summary: Unbeknown to him, I had travelled down the very same path. Seeing the clouded judgement obscuring those onyx eyes was all too familiar. "What makes you think you know anything about it?" "Take it from someone who has already been there." Sasuke x OC
1. Chapter 1

**Okay! Answer time!**

**I wanted to edit this story completely because I realized something. You can't have an OC without giving it some sort of interesting backstory to write about. They can't be forever happy, shy, blah blah blah. Anyways, I felt mine was like that. I mean, she had a nice family, a nice job, nice everything. **

**ICK.**

**So, if she had left to the Naruto World, it would be extremely hard to type about her feelings of leaving home. Whereas if the OC was troubled in some say, their life throughout the story could hint on whether they love/hate the Naruto World, and whether they want to stay or go. The decision is sad and angsty to read about, which is what I wanted to get across to all of you!**

**ANYWAYS, here is the first, re-edited chapter!**

**It's really, really long, but bear with me! Shannon DOES MEET SASUKE IN THE FIRST CHAPTER! So, please read!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>It's funny, isn't it?<p>

Life, I mean.

It's mysterious, frightening and always against you. Always plotting how to take you down again and again. Just when you think you've escaped its clutches, it drags you back down again, this time, refusing to let go. Oh, you can try and escape again, sure, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I mean, nobody gets out alive, anyways.

You can try and change your life. For the most past. You can do good deeds and receive good karma, you can appreciate the little things you never knew you had, or you can just be nicer to people you meet.

But one often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.

"Okay, Shannon, you know the drill."

Giving a silent nod, I approach the protected glass. The guard behind it gives me a sad smile—one that is sad to see me back in such a horrid place. I take off my clothes, remaining in nothing but my underwear. I scrunch my street clothes up and toss them into the big, grey bin to my left. Seconds later, the guard passes through my old uniform, neatly folded.

I mutter an incoherent thanks and quickly slip into the last pair of clothes I'm going to be wearing for a very long time. Then, my wrists are detained and I am led through the painfully familiar barred doors. My chaperone has her hand gingerly placed in the middle of my back as we walk down the echoing hallway.

We pass numerous cell blocks. The people here—that remember me—call out to me. Few are happy to see me back. Others aren't so nice. They shout nasty things out to me. Their harsh words bounce off the walls and drum against my ears. But I don't care. I ignore them as I am led to my cell.

My wrists are then freed of their own metal prison, and the barred door is screeched shut. The metallic clinking of the lock tweaks shut. The nasty shouts die down, replaced with malicious snickering. Soon enough, that dies down too.

They say life is all about giving second chances, and receiving them. Although, these chances are hard to come by, and sometimes, may not be given out at all. Only the lucky ones who deserve them are the ones who get them. I was one of the lucky ones. But I shamefully shot myself in the foot again, resulting in this hellhole becoming my home—for the second time.

The bright sun burns through my barred window. Dark lines are flashed across the wall, floor and tiny cot that rests in the corner. As my gaze runs along the faded sky-blue walls, I sense that there is something familiar about it.

I realize that they have been courteous enough to give me my old cell. I muse that thought to myself thrice, then dismissed it. Then another thought occurred; if this was my old cell, then that means—

"Can't say I've missed your sorry face 'round these parts."

I turn back to face the barred doors. I see a slender hand holding out a gritty piece of glass. My reflection bobs around it before disappearing. A small smirk quirks at the corner of my mouth as I near the door. I grip the bars and rest my forehead against them.

"Hey, Jules," I say.

Her laughter tinkles from next door, gracefully floating into mine. I grab the little mirror from underneath the cot and hold it out between the bars. After a few seconds of turning my wrist, Jules' lovely face appears in it. My heart almost pangs at the sight.

As always, she is pretty and smiling. Despite the fact that we are locked away in this death house, she still finds a reason to smile. And now, that reason is me.

"I know you missed me, but you didn't have to get your ass thrown back in here just to see me," she smirks. "There is such a thing as visiting hours, remember?"

"It's nice to see you too, Jules."

Jules is two years older than me. I am seventeen, and she is nineteen. She is my only friend in this godforsaken shit hole.

I turn the mirror downwards and see her bulging belly. My eyes grow wide. I never knew she was this far along. In the little mirror, I see her run a hand over her swollen stomach.

Jules was admitted to this place a few years ago. She used to take a lot of drugs. She was an addict. An intervention was then staged by her family, which resulted in Jules beating her sister to death. After her trial, she was tossed in here. Her family never visits her. They hate her for what she did.

And Jules doesn't blame them. She knows she has done wrong. When we first met, I heard her sickening sobs echo through the cell block every night. She would cry her sister's name over and over. It was heartbreaking. Often, she made me cry too.

I was let out four months ago, on a good behaviour bond. Jules wasn't so lucky. She's serving twenty years in this horrid place. While out on my behaviour bond, I received a phone call from Jules. She explained that the correction centre agreed to release her for two weeks to visit her dying grandmother. After that, she was to return to the juvenile girls correction centre to serve the remainder of her years.

While out on those two weeks, Jules fell pregnant to her on-again, off-again boyfriend. I had that news delivered by phone call too.

"So, how much longer now?" I asked.

I saw Jules affectionately rub her stomach.

"I'm due next week, darl," she replied, a huge smile crossing her face.

I was in shock. "Oh, Jules, congratulations!"

Jules thanks me and goes back to rubbing her stomach.

_So, the nine month mark is almost here, hm?_

"What's going to happen to you?"

Jules begins to explain that her mother found out she was pregnant with a baby girl. At first, the mother denies giving Jules her blessing, but when Jules mentioned that she was going to name the girl after her mother, sister and grandmother, her mother accepted.

And with that, Jules explained that her mother went to court to beg for Jules to have the baby delivered in a hospital. Then, she would be staying in there for a week, followed by her mother's house for a month. The best part was, if Jules showed a real change, the detention centre would allow her a year out of prison to look after the baby, and then would have to return for her remaining eighteen years.

Jules didn't care about the fact that she had to return to this hellhole. She was just glad she would be able to raise her child in the most important year of its life.

That night, I sink deep into the scratchy sheets. I was tired. I hadn't bothered to eat. I never went out of my cell to eat. I had made too many enemies in this place. I didn't want to confront them after I thought I'd be rid of them forever.

The pale moon casts the same, depressing shadow over my room. The clouds roll over, eliminating the striped pattern that never seemed to leave this room. I darkness greeted me warmly. Soon enough, the moon breaks through, and the stripes return.

At eleven pm, the lights are shut off. The night guards undertake their shifts. It is a pleasant night tonight. Although, the nights were always pleasant here. Nothing ever happened during the night. This was a female correction centre; women prisoners were just that little more sensible than the men were. No fights ever occurred, unless a rumour was started. I paid no attention to these rumours. Now, I just wanted to serve my four years and be rid of this place forever.

Suddenly, Jules' voice floats into my room.

"So, what you in for this time?"

I sigh and turn over in my cot.

"I'm innocent."

A cynical laugh and voice greet me from an unknown direction.

"Aren't we all?"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

The night is cold. I forgot how cold this place used to get. Being home for the past four months was such a blessing. And I just threw it all away. Now, I was paying for it. This prison uniforms were ridiculous. In the summer, it was too hot to wear them. And then in winter, they weren't warm enough.

I huffed irritably and pressed down deeper into my bed. The sounds of chattering died down as I drifted off to sleep. Just before my eyes took their last glimpse of reality, a soft voice rang out through the cell block.

_**Would you dance… if I asked you to dance?**_

_**Would you run… and never look back?**_

The soft voice grew louder. I then realized it was Jules.

_**Would you cry… if you saw me crying?**_

_**Would you save my soul… tonight?**_

The whole cell block went deathly quiet as Jules' beautiful, angelic voice rang throughout the cell block.

I smiled quietly to myself as Jules continued to sing. This was the only thing I missed about prison. It was that soft, gorgeous singing voice that would be heard each and every night. And it would sing the same song, every single time.

_**I can be your hero, baby…**_

_**I can kiss away the pain…**_

_**I will stand by your forever…**_

_**You can take…**_

**_My breath away…_**

Her voice was so beautiful that not even the guards scolded her for singing. In fact, this was why the daytime guards stayed behind at night. Because at eleven-thirty every night, without fail, Jules would sing in her hauntingly beautiful voice, stealing the breaths of everyone in Cell Block D.

Nearing the end of the song, Jules' voice picked up. It grew high and more powerful, but still remained breathtakingly gentle.

_**Oh… am I in too deep?**_

_**Have I lost my… mind?**_

_**Well I don't care…**_

_**You're here…**_

_**Tonight…**_

I close my eyes and savour the beautiful moment.

_**You can take…**_

_**My breath away…**_

Silent tears fall down my cheeks. I also hear the muffled sobs of the other girls in here. As hard as stone as they may be on the outside, Jules' voice is the only thing that can break them.

_**I can be… your hero…!**_

_**I can kiss away the pain…!**_

_**And I will stand… by… you…**_

_**Forever...!**_

_**You can take… my breath away…**_

_**You can take… my breath away…**_

_**I… can… be…**_

_**Your hero…**_

That night, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

* * *

><p>The week passes quietly. I spend all my time in my cell, except for when I shower. In the showers, some of the girls shout threats at me. Again, their harsh words drum against my ears, but I ignore them. One of the girls tried to advance on me, but thankfully, Jules stepped in. From now on, Jules get a shower all to herself. I join her, pleading that Jules may need help getting in and out of the showers, defending the case that she may slip and fall and hurt herself, and no one would ever know.<p>

I refuse to leave my cell to eat. Jules doesn't have to leave her cell to eat, though. Because she is pregnant, the prison serves her special food that helps the baby. It's a prison, yes, but that does not mean they can put an infant in harms way with that godforsaken slop they call food.

Something clangs noisily on my stone floor. I look up. Jules is standing there, her special food tray in one hand, the other on her hip. She points to my tray.

"You can't waste away in here, love. Believe me, we've all tried."

I utter a small laugh. If it weren't for Jules, I would have killed myself by now. Or at least gone insane. I prefer the latter sometimes. She is the only thing that reminds me that there is something still worth living for in this world. She always seems to be happy about something, despite the fact that we both don't exactly lead amazing lives outside of prison.

So I eat the slop—barely—and resume my daily activity of doing absolutely nothing. All I ever did was sit in my cell and think. Sometimes, I would write. Nothing in particular. Sometimes it would be poetry, and other times, it would be stories.

I showed Jules one of my stories once. She was amazed.

"You have a real talent, kiddo," she had said. "Maybe you should become a writer."

I had often thought about what she said. After much praise for my works, I now spend all my time in my cell, writing about anything and everything. Jules often asks to see more of my works. I lend them to her, and sometimes, I catch her reading them to her swollen stomach. Then, I hear her giggle every time her baby kicks. I have never heard such delight in a person's laughter before.

* * *

><p>Today is the big day.<p>

Today is the day that Jules goes to the hospital to have her baby. She is ecstatic, I can tell. I would be too. She was busy all morning packing all the necessary things she would need. A little after lunchtime, Jules' mother arrives to take her away.

I am let out of my cell to say goodbye to Jules.

My heart pangs as I wrap my arms around her, careful not to press too hard against her swollen stomach. Suddenly, I jump back, feeling a little nudge against my stomach. Jules simply laughs at my reaction.

"She is excited to come into the world," Jules says, gazing affectionately at her stomach.

She then looks at me.

"She's excited to see her godmother."

My eyes grow wide.

"…Godmother?" I barely manage to choke the words out. Jules nods. She then grabs my hand and presses it against her baby belly. After a few seconds, I feel two little nudges. I cannot keep myself from smiling.

Jules then envelopes me in a warm, sincere hug. I snake my arms around her back and return her hug. Tears begin to form in the corners of my eyes as she lets go. I see tears in her eyes too.

She wipes them away. "You're going to make me cry, Shan!" she exclaims, laughing through her tears. I laugh too.

As she leaves, Jules plants a small kiss on my forehead and hugs me one last time.

"You'll be out of here soon, kiddo. And I'll come visit you every day, I promise. Just keep your chin up for me. I love you."

I bury my head in the crook of Jules' neck. "I love you too," I say.

* * *

><p>That night, I find it easy to fall asleep. I feel at peace. Jules is finally getting out of this place. She finally gets to be a mother. The birth will be hard for her, but she will pull through.<p>

The guards have promised me to update me on Jules condition after the birth. Her baby is due in two days. I am excited. I start imagining scenarios where Jules comes to the prison with her adorable baby. I imagine the baby to have that gorgeous black hair, just like Jules. I see both of them in my head, smiling the same smile. Jules looks so incredibly happy.

I start to think that my life won't be so bad in the year that Jules is gone. She is a loyal friend. She promises to come visit me every day, and I strongly believe she will be true to her word.

After all, I am the godmother.

* * *

><p>It's been three days since Jules left. I am really worried. The guards should have come to me yesterday afternoon with the news on Jules. They promised me.<p>

After the fourth day, I can't take it anymore. I can't write, I can't sleep; I can't do anything. Every guard that passes my cell refuses to give me an answer.

Finally, Angie, one of the female guards, heads toward my cell. I jump up from my position on the bed and cling to the barred door, desperate for any kind of information. She walks slowly, and her face seems grim.

I just believed it to be a trick of the light. I refused to let any negative thought about Jules and her baby course through my mind. But as she draws closer, I can truly see that her face is grim. There is no usual smile on her face.

Something was wrong.

My heart began to race as she finally approached my cell. A knot of dread forms in the pit of my stomach as Angie opens her mouth to speak.

"Shan, love, I have something to tell you."

Her voice is grave and causes tears to form in the corners of my eyes.

"The baby… the baby didn't make it…"

A choked gasp escapes my throat.

"She… Jules… she miscarried right before the birth, dear."

Now Angie struggles to fight back the tears. She then places a hand on mine, which is still clinging so hard to the black bars that my knuckles turn white. My body is frozen.

"There's more," she croaks through her tears.

I pick my gaze up from the floor and bore my eyes into Angie's.

"Jules… she… she couldn't take the fact that she lost the baby… I-I'm so sorry dear…"

She places something cold in my hand, and then walks away.

* * *

><p>That night, there is no beautiful serenade. There is no hauntingly angelic voice guiding us to sleep with a small smile on our faces. The cell block is eerily quiet. Nobody makes a sound. I hear a few muffled sobs. A few people whimper sadly.<p>

I just lay in my bed, unable to say anything.

I clutch Jules' necklace in my hand. I stroke the engraving work around the rim of the flat, circular pendant. I hold the pendent up in the moonlight. A tear—a single, lonely rivulet—runs down my side of my face as I gaze upon the 'J' engraved in calligraphy in the centre.

My heart pangs over and over again in tremendous pain.

* * *

><p>Weeks pass since Jules' death.<p>

I don't dare venture out of my cell. My mind is still registering with the fact that my only friend in the whole world is gone. The guards organise a small service to remember Jules, but I cannot bring myself to go. The pain is too much.

It's like the light has been torn away from my world. Everything seems so surreal. I can't eat, sleep or do anything. Memories of Jules are constantly abuzz in my mind. I try hard to rid them, but they keep coming back.

Soon enough, I cry.

My sorrowful wails echo throughout the cell block. Sure enough, cries of the other girls fill the cell too. The sobs tear their way from my chest, getting louder and louder. I clutch the sides of my head and scream until my voice is hoarse.

Jules is gone.

And she isn't coming back.

* * *

><p>A month has passed. Others seem to have forgotten about Jules' death.<p>

As I venture out into the shower for the first time, a gang of girls confronts me. They scream threats at me, telling me they will kill me. They shout horrid things at me, and start to push me around. Soon enough, I am thrown to the floor. They kick me. They pick me up and throw me down again.

My head spins violently and I taste blood. The shouts continue, but are incoherent. After what seemed like hours, I am left alone on the bathroom floor. I am naked and wet. But I do not feel any physical pain. The only pain I feel is of the memory of Jules.

* * *

><p>Two months have passed.<p>

I am no longer the girl I used to be. I no longer smile, nor do I talk to anybody. I sit in my cell, refusing to leave. I am cold and hard. My light has been stolen, and it's never coming back.

I constantly get into fights with other cellmates. My anger is uncontrollable. Most girls are frightened of me. Other still pick fights. Some have ended up pretty bad. One girl had to be taken to hospital. I heard she was in a coma. I know I should have felt something, but now, I felt nothing. So far, I have had my nose broken, and my face slashed with a knife. I now have a scar on the left side of my face that travels down to my collarbone. Other times, I just end up with a few cuts and bruises.

Not even physical pain can replace the emotional pain.

That night is another sleepless one. Earlier, I got into a rather large fight with one of the inmates. it was in the showers, again. We were rolling around on the floor, naked, screeching and beating each other with blind attacks. I don't remember much of it; my head was pounding way too hard to register much. The guards eventually broke it up. I was taken to the infirmary with a serious concussion and a few bruised ribs. Other than that, I remember nothing.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Now, I try to sleep, but I can't close my eyes. Every time I do, I see _her_ face. She smiles at me. Her kiss on my forehead repeats over in my mind. Her gentle humour rings in my ears.

I want to be out of this place. It's too painful to stay. It's too quiet without Jules. Every night is cold and deathly quiet. Nobody dares to sing. Nobody has the right to. Jules was the only one allowed to sing, and it remains that way to this day.

I reach up to my neck and gently finger the necklace. I rub my fingers over the familiar engraving. This time, tears fall unwillingly. But I don't want to stop them. I miss Jules.

_"You'll be out of this place soon, kiddo…"_

Tears fall harder, faster.

_"Keep you chin up for me…"_

I roll over onto my side and silently cry.

_Please… just take me away from here… I don't care where I go… I don't care what I do… I just… I just want to be out of this world. I can't take it… Please… take me away…_

My chest heaves uncontrollably.

"_I love you."_

_Please… take me away…_

* * *

><p>I open my eyes.<p>

I hear birds chirping in the distance. The soft, slow whispering of the trees greets my ears. I sit up and rub my eyes. I'm in a clearing of some sort, surrounded my huge trees.

I stand up and survey my surroundings.

_Is this a dream? This seems too real… too vivid to be a dream…_

I begin to walk.

Soon enough, the thick trees give way to a small desert. I continue to walk. The sun beats down on me. It was getting quite stuffy inside this stupid prison uniform. The wind whips sand in my eyes, but I keep walking.

I begin to see large rocks litter the landscape. Some are small, and some are big enough to be mountains. I hold a hand over my eyes to shield out the sunlight. The heat becomes unbearable, and I desperately try to search for some shade.

I quickly spot the largest boulder and stand in its wake. The sun casts a long, cool shadow over the sizzling sand. Beads of perspiration streak my face.

Groaning from my tiredness and from the heat, I crouch down and lean against the large boulder. I wipe the sweat from my face with the back of my long-sleeve prison shirt. I cringe. I feel dirty all over.

Suddenly, the ground begins to rumble. I stop dead in my actions and listen.

The rumbling grew louder. Soon, it sounded like the earth was ripping apart. I quickly stood up, scared out of my wits.

I feel nothing beneath my feet.

By the time I looked down, I was greeted by eternal blackness. I was falling. I was falling fast. Before I could scream, the ground greeted my backside.

Hard.

I cried out in pain.

The rumbling stopped. I rolled onto my back and arched myself in pain. I had a splitting headache and my ears kept ringing. I tried to focus my eyes, but I couldn't.

Suddenly, someone called out to me.

_"Hey! What do you think you're doing here?"_

I jerk up. There is a man heading toward me. He shouts again, and I see him take out something from behind his back. It's shiny and large.

_A gun…?_

I jump to my feet and run full pelt in the other direction. As I ran, I noticed that I was running down a long corridor, lined with candles. Nonetheless, I kept running. Soon enough, I heard more shouts coming from behind me.

I glance behind me to see three men running after me, brandishing their weapons. I cry out but keep running. My legs begin to burn and my chest feels as if it's on fire. I could feel myself slowing down, or they were speeding up.

I felt something tackle me from behind. I fall face down onto the hard ground. A huge pair of arms is wrapped around my waist. I scream, and manage to writhe free. The man makes another grab for me, but I swing my fist into his face with a satisfying crack. He stumbles back and shouts in pain. I stumble to my feet and keep running.

More men tackle me from behind.

Again and again, I fend them off with everything I have. I throw numerous punches and kicks. Sometimes I hit them, and sometimes they hit me. But I keep at it. Soon enough, all three men are on the ground, either unconscious, or in too much pain to get up. I was shocked. Had I just done that?

So I ran.

As soon as I felt I was far away enough, I stopped. I was breathing deeply and heavily. I collapsed against the stone wall, trying to regain my breaths. My chest is on fire and my whole body is numb from fighting.

I hear someone shout.

_"Hey! Get back here!"_

I groan and try to get up. But I can't. I hear the scuffing of his footsteps getting closer, getting louder.

_Come on, come on, dammit! Get up! You have to get up! Move it! Move!_

I took three steps, and then suddenly someone was standing over me. I gasped. I hadn't even seen him run up behind me! He was fast. Much faster than the others.

He grips my neck and thrusts me against the wall. I feel blood trickle past my lip. I grip his hand and try to pry him off, but I can't. He's too strong. Much stronger than the others.

My anger swells in my chest. Despite the fact that this was a dream, I wasn't about to lose to some punk that only existed in my mind.

So I took one hand, clenched it, and drove it smack bang into the side of his face.

His hand immediately releases me. He stumbles back and I drop to the floor. I cough and splutter, but scramble to my feet. I start to run.

Before I could even get three feet away, I feel a sharp pain at the back of my neck. I collapse to the ground. I suddenly feel extremely weak and heavy. I roll onto my back and take one last look at whom my captor was.

A pair of deep scarlet eyes were staring back at me.

I tried to protest, but blackness took over.

* * *

><p><strong>Sheesh! That was a fucking, long-ass chapter! Haha. Sorry it was so long! I wanted to post a Sasuke x OC where the character is much like Sasuke; angry, brooding and a sometimes a bit of a cynical jackass. Because writing about a happy OC is boring as fuck. I like to write about angst and humour, incase you haven't already noticed haha.<strong>

**PLEASE R&R! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I'm going to continue this story! Hope you all like it so far :)**

**I received a few PMs stating that Shannon may be Mary-Sue because she fought off three guards and punched Sasuke. I wanna clear that up. Number one; because she thinks she is in a dream, she believes that she can't get hurt, and she's running on adrenaline. Number two; because she's been in and out of prison, she is a decent fighter because she used to get into fights. She doesn't have mad-ass ninja skills; she just knows how to defend herself, but in the ninja world, her 'skills' are pretty piss-poor haha.  
><strong>

**AN: I changed the name of this story and the summary because I thought it would suit it better :)**

**Now that that's out of the way, here's the second chapter!**

* * *

><p>Precision, earned over the years through patience and hard work, saw the plastic dripper release one, single yellow drop into the desired vile. The drip formed an aimless pattern with the liquid, like a silent dance. Colour change ensued, followed by a small whisp of smoke rising, and then fading. Glasses slid down his nose from perspiration. Sweat droplets tickled the sensitive parts of his face, to which he ignored. Once the desired outcome was scrawled on the nearby notepad, the young apprentice wiped the perspiration with the back of his gloved hand and uttered a sigh.<p>

The vile was corked and slid into a holding tray next to other various viles stationed beside him. All were labelled accordingly. Mistakes were not welcomed in this profession.

After stowing the standing tray of viles in a nearby freezer, he turned back to look at the horrid subject strapped and chained to the metal table. Various drips were threaded outward from his arms, chest, stomach and other various places. The lifeless body was gruesome to look at, but this barely phased the young man. Deep gashes littered the subject's body, and most were infected. Chunks of sickly skin were missing.

The young man had just completed another coronary report on another lost subordinate. The deceased were never an important asset, but nonetheless, all deaths had to be recorded. Samples were to be taken and analysed, and a diagnosis had to be made towards the cause of death.

It was an arduous task, but one he could handle.

The young man smirked as the cause of death seemed to be by being mauled, as well as the curse-mark faltering, thus eating away at the body from the inside out. The troop of travelling subordinates—that had made themselves quite noticed—had brought the deceased from one of the far off hideouts. The subordinates from that old hideout were basically monsters. They were locked in cells for most of their lives. The curse-mark on these particular subordinates was of the primitive version, placed on the test subjects back when his sensei had first developed it himself. These subordinates lost all rationality and all basic human instincts. Judgement was thrown out the window when it came to these beasts.

The bright, artificial light above flickered. The orange-swirled stone walls seemed to dance in the falter, but then stopped. Despite the lonely atmosphere and painstaking work, the young silver-haired man loved every minute of it. He thrived on knowledge. He only survived in order to know more. Concocting new poisons, weapons and formulating tactical strategies were his most loved areas of work.

Suddenly, the young man heard shuffling by the doorway. His frame didn't falter. He didn't let the figure interrupt him, and so he kept his eye firmly fixated on the sample through the microscope lens. A croaked whisper greeted his ears.

"What have you found?"

The young man then spoke as he continued to jot down his observations.

"Nothing of extreme value, my Lord."

The boy heard the older man shuffle forward and felt him stop behind him. A moment of silence followed before the older one spoke.

"How did this happen?"

The young man stood up and began to clear away his messy pile of notes. The above light flickered again, catching the glass of the man's rounded spectacles.

"It seems she fell through the emergency escape shaft, my Lord. Three guards, including Sasuke, chased her down."

Both men turned to the eerily green wall of monitors that were stationed all over the back wall. Security camera monitors, to be exact. Every room in the underground hideout had cameras littered everywhere. All were linked with fiberoptic cables to ensure quick response to each and every monitor. Most were of empty rooms, while a few focused on the eating chamber and the entries. One monitor in particular was focused on the interrogation room.

In said room lay a small, unmoving figure on a bed. The room wasn't lit, so the screen was switched to night-vision mode. The darker hues of the room were a bright green, and the lighter ones were cast a much darker hue.

"Who is she?" the older, gaunter man croaked.

"No one knows, my Lord. Not even I know."

The older man uttered a low growl. This place was kept air-tight. Nobody came and went without the approval of the older man—who just to happened to be running the place. To admit that you didn't know the reason for something happening pretty much sealed your fate. The younger man quickly apologized, but refused to alter his expression of pure seriousness.

"Well, what shall I do?" the young man drawled, finally turning back to the older man.

The older man continued to stare at the screen. The resting figure still hadn't moved. He suddenly scoffed.

"Dear boy, you expect me to believe that this pitiful child took down three guards all by herself?" His yellow eyes narrowed in annoyance. This man didn't like to have his patience tested.

"Sasuke too," the young man added. He then flinched inwardly at the possible error he may just have made.

The older man flickered his gaze to the younger man, staring at him as if he were suddenly crazy. It was absurd, really. How could a young girl take down one of the most powerful descendants of one of the most powerful clans known to man? And three other guards too?

Impossible.

The younger man refused to brushed off so lightly. He walked over the switchboard the operated the cameras. The clicking of the keyboard echoed throughout the small room. After the typing ceased, the younger man gestured the older man to the screen.

On the screen appeared the footage of last night. The image was still for a few seconds, and then saw a girl running past full pelt, followed by three guards. The next frames displayed the girl fending off the men. Her attacks were extremely sloppy compared to that of Sasuke, or any kind of shinobi, but they were somehow on target nonetheless. Each time, a guard fell down. This girl did not know how to fight. She just merely knew how to defend herself.

_Interesting_, the elder man thought.

Next, the young man named Sasuke appeared in the footage. He was gaining on the girl quite easily. The older man supposed her attacks to be out of pure fear and adrenaline; she appeared to have no idea where she was or what she was even doing.

Soon enough, the young prodigy caught the young girl and had her pinned against the wall. She then appeared to be trying to fend him off. The girl paused, but then quickly drew back her fist. It—surprisingly—connected with the boy's cheek. Supposing he became startled, the young boy softened his grip. The girl managed to slip through and tried to make a run for it. The older man glared at the screen of his prodigy's split-second lapse in judgement.

Seconds later, the girl was on the ground. The footage ended.

"She doesn't appear to be a ninja or any kind. Her clothes don't hint at any particular signature from any of the different nations. I drew some of her blood and analysed it, but I found nothing," the young man stated.

"Nothing?" the elder man echoed.

"By nothing, my Lord, I mean there is no background information regarding to her. It's strange, really. It's as if… as if she appeared out of nowhere…" his voice trailed off as he continued to stare at the monitor.

The elder man stalked to the door. Before he disappeared through it, he cocked his head to the side and spoke.

"If she managed to hit Sasuke, there's really no harm in keeping her around, then, hm?"

And with that, he left.

* * *

><p>Sounds became evident around me. Slowly, but surely, my ears opened up to the world around me. I twitched my left arm and realized I was still in bed. My head began to pound familiarly, but I merely believed it to be from crying over… crying over…<p>

_Jules._

Tears pricked the sides of my eyes as the harsh reality of my life reared its ugly head. It sneered at me, and taunted me. Slowly, I raised my hand up to my forehead. I noticed my hair was sweaty and matted, and stuck out in every direction. I rubbed my forehead, squinting in my dazed state, trying to remember what happened.

Then I remembered everything; it came back slowly, but so vividly. My dream replayed itself over and over in my head. I was surprised at how strikingly real it had felt; the running through the forest and the desert, and then fighting with those… those people.

I moved my arm and realised it was numb with pain.

_Wow… must've been some dream…_

I sat up slowly in bed. I cringed when I realized that more than just my arm was numbing with pain; my whole body ached. To say the least, I was really confused. It was only a dream, and I really felt like I was just in a fight against four people. I felt battered and sore.

I blinked a few times to let my eyes focus. I realized it was still dark. The room was pitch black. After a few seconds, a vague outline of my room appeared before me and my heart skipped a beat.

This wasn't my room.

This wasn't where I had fallen asleep.

Despite the lack of any kind of light, I knew that this was _definitely __not__ my room__._ The bed was at a different angle on the wall, the room was much, much colder, and there was no moonlight seeping through the window. In fact, there was no window at all.

I panicked.

Quickly, I kicked off the sheet and stepped off the bed. Instead of the floor being a mere foot below my bed, the bed was about a metre off the floor. I misjudged, therefore I was sent sprawling hard on my elbows and knees. Cursing rather colourfully, I waited until the pain subdued before standing up.

Again and again, I stumbled over my feet, trying to figure out where I was. I had never seen this room before in my life. I panicked.

So, with the only seemingly logical thought popping into my mind, I decided to call out. I called out again and again for the security guards in this godforsaken hell hole to tell me what was going on. Usually, when in solitary confinement, they were guarding the door. Therefore, they would answer.

But it was dead quiet.

My calls went unheeded. My shrill, dry voice echoed off the walls and vanished into nothing. I stopped, listened and waited. I waited for any signs of life anywhere. Walking over to the door and leaning against it, I listened for anybody on the other side. I heard nothing, except for the deep, rapid beating of my own heart in my ears.

I was getting scared. Really scared.

My fear besting me, I raised my fists to the wooden door and banged loudly.

* * *

><p>A sudden flourish of movement on the eerie, green monitor caught the young, silver-haired man's attention. Pausing during his work, he glanced over. A smirk crept onto his lips and he scoffed ever so slightly.<p>

"Something funny, Kabuto?"

Kabuto turned back to the boy looming in the doorway. It was Sasuke, looking rather pissed—as always. His lean eyebrows were furrowed downward into his classic glare, always glaring at nothing in particular. The raven-haired boy's gaze followed that of Kabuto's a moment earlier. The deep, coal eyes were now fixated on the glowing monitor. Both young men were now looking at the girl on the screen.

From the top corner view, she was banging the door with open palms, screeching something. There was no sound, but they were both sure the girl was screaming something along the lines of "let me out of here". Again and again, her hands slammed on the door. Finally, she gave up, but kept on screaming.

"Who's that?"

Kabuto turned to face the raven, whose suspicious glare was still fixated onto the monitor.

"Why do you care so suddenly?"

The raven's glare was now fixated on Kabuto. Although, he said nothing. Neither said anything.

"She's the one from last night," Kabuto informed, resuming his work, but not before flashing a smirk in Sasuke's direction. "And I must say, she put up quite a fight, don't you agree?"

The raven boy merely scoffed and turned away.

"Says the boy who copped a punch in the face," Kabuto retorted.

* * *

><p><em>"Let…me…outta…here!"<em>

Once again, my cry vibrated deep in my throat and echoed against the walls. Shortly after, it faded away, still ringing in my ears. Sucking in a deep breath, I was determined to try again. But I couldn't. I was suddenly launched into a coughing fit. My throat was dry and hoarse from all the screaming.

I ran my hands through my sweaty, matted hair in order to calm myself down. It wasn't helping. The more I considered my surroundings, the more I came to realize that _I wasn't even in the prison anymore._

My idea was based on the fact that this room was made completely out of stone. The prison was a brick building; no stone anywhere except the floors in the mess hall. Next, the stone was carved. I had felt the strange, circular carvings on the walls as I repeatedly banged my fists. Also, where were no windows. I knew that solitary confinement back in the prison had no windows, but it had at least some form of light to keep you temporarily sane.

Not only was I panicked, I was angry. Wherever I was, I had no right to be treated this way.

_Ironic._

Me, a prisoner, saying that I cannot be treated this way; as in, being locked in a cell.

_Ha._

Life is _so_ funny, isn't it?

I walked over to the far wall and leaned against it. I took deep breaths, running my hands through my knotted, choppy red hair. I picked at the knots, trying to pry my mind away from this confusing reality.

Soon enough, I got tired of that. I began to bite my non-existing nails, which were already worn down from years of biting. I didn't care. There was always some part of the nail left unbitten. But my mind wouldn't let me focus. I wiped my hands on my shirt and glanced down at it as something caught my eyes.

Blood.

For a moment, I was going to spiral out of control in a flurry of advanced panic, but then I realized this blood was from my fight last night in the showers. Some of it was mine, and some of it was probably somebody else's. I pulled the hem of my faded, light blue buttoned shirt out in front of me to get a better look.

There was a huge patch of blood near the top button of the faded blue shirt. It looked like it had been spattered on. Next, faded streaks of blood were near the bottom, probably from me wiping the blood from my mouth before jumping on that bitch I fought in the showers last night.

And then I noticed something really odd.

There was dirt.

Dirt on my shirt.

I wiped it off, and a little cloud of dust puffed up. I coughed lightly, and continued to examine the dirt. The more I sat there and gazed at the dirt, I had this terrible feeling that I wasn't home anymore. I wasn't in the prison anymore. I mentally slapped myself in the face and mustered up the effort to not freak out or jump to conclusions until I knew exactly what the fuck was going on.

I groaned and brought my knees up to my chest. My mind was in a flurry. I couldn't focus and my head was beginning to pound painfully. I could feel the onset of a headache. Tears trickled down my cheeks. I was confused, angry and completely lost.

Suddenly, a small groan greeted my ears. My head jerked up so fat I thought I gave myself whiplash. Slowly, but surely, the big door was creaking open. I quickly stood to my feet, paralyzed against the wall. My heart was beating erratically.

A young man, a few years older than myself, appeared at the door. The light from the hallway filtered in and I could see his face. He had silver hair and glasses whose rounded glass lenses danced in the corridor light. He stood in the fully opened doorway, his arms folded over his chest.

"Come with me," he stated.

I was reluctant, but if it got me a chance to leave this room, then I'd go. Cautiously, I walked over to him. He stood aside and let me through first.

The young man followed close behind, his hand clasped around my upper arm with a little force. Not so much that it hurt, but enough to apprehend me if I tried to make a break for it. Nonetheless, I kept walking. My dirtied sky blue pants swished and my bare feet slapped lightly on the cold, stone floor as we walked. Candles lit the corridors, stationed along the wall, flickering ever so gently as we passed.

The man pulled on my arm a few times in the direction he wanted me to turn. We turned down countless, endless corridors. Each new corridor faded into blackness. I tried to make a mental map in my mind's eye, but around every corner, the place looked exactly the same. There were no individualities that could separate one corridor from another; no cracks, no odd lights, nothing.

We passed a few people in the corridors. Some were older males around their thirties, while only one was a female, also around her thirties. All walked past in a methodical manner, while the woman brusquely hurried past, refusing to make any eye contact with the me or the man leading me.

Soon enough, we reached a colossal set of double doors that loomed ominously. They were huge wooden doors, bound with cast iron across them.

* * *

><p>The large room was dark and utterly bleak. The feeble candles that lined the walls were close to the end of their tether. Few candles had already burned out, while others struggled to stay alive.<p>

The dry groan of the colossal doors opening greeted the raven-haired boy's ears. He flicked his head to the side and spied a small figure walk through the doors. From what he could tell, she was female. She had a mop of short, choppy red hair and was clad in faded blue pants and a shirt. As he looked, the boy noticed she was indeed the girl from last night; the one who had managed to deliver a punch to the side of his face.

The ravenette's glare intensified at the memory of last night. He refused to believe she had actually aimed that punch. He merely assumed she had gotten lucky somehow. Somehow. Whether the Gods hated him, or whether she was a luck magnet, he couldn't care less. The punch never actually hurt him; he was too proud to let himself get hurt by such a frail little brat.

The girl walked the length of the room and stopped about ten feet from Orochimaru's post. Slowly, the gaunt snake man walked down the stone steps and stopped right before the girl. Sasuke could clearly see that the girl was afraid of the man; her figure ossified as the man drew closer.

He wondered what Orochimaru would want with a girl like this.

Sasuke heard Orochimaru ask the girl how she had found this place. Letting his curiosity besting him, Sasuke wanted to know too. The location of their current hideout was unknown and untraceable to even the highest ranked ninja. There was no way she could have found this place on purpose. It was difficult even to find the abandoned hideouts, let alone any of the currently inhabited ones.

"I don't believe we have had the pleasure of being introduced," the girl said, smiling sardonically as she folded her arms over her chest.

Sasuke scoffed under his breath.

A comment like that was sure to land someone a very slow and painful death. Nobody dared to speak to Orochimaru like that. Nobody even dared to speak at him at all. He was dangerous and feared by all. He had once witnessed a lowly subordinate stand up to Orochimaru when Sasuke had first arrived here a little over two years ago. The experiment was screeching and threatened to take down Orochimaru with everything it had. Much to the experiment's dismay, Orochimaru killed the fool. And with great ferocity, the young ravenette might add.

Sasuke awaited the old man's reaction. To his surprise, Orochimaru lifted his hand to stroke her cheek instead of mercilessly killing her right where she stood. Once his hand reached her cheek, Sasuke could sense her confidence shatter in an instant. From the corner where he sat, the girl's eyes widened and she tried to resist shrinking into herself.

Needless to say, the anger piqued up within the stoic Uchiha. It was rare for the man to take interest in a subject, let alone a small girl. Sasuke had seen countless ninja offer themselves to Orochimaru—for why, the boy still doesn't understand—and he had only ever witnessed the man accept three people in the time he had been with him. The rest were simply killed.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

After a while, the girl was sent away. Orochimaru had taken quite a shine to her. It was still unclear to the Uchiha as to why, but he nevertheless, he was determined to find out.

Sasuke exited the large, grey chamber. His sandals scuffed rhythmically on the stone floor as he neared his destination. A few followers hurried past him, purposely taking extra steps to the side just to avoid being too close with the dark boy. As they feared Orochimaru, they all held the utmost respect for the Uchiha. None bothered to converse with him, and he was thankful for that.

As he neared his room, Orochimaru's right hand man, Kabuto, stopped him in his path.

"Stand aside," the Uchiha hissed.

Kabuto merely pushed his rounded spectacles up the bridge of his nose and refused to move.

"See to it that the girl attains the proper weaponry and clothing fit for training."

"I'll see to _nothing_," was the dark reply.

"Orochimaru's orders," Kabuto condescended, turning to walk past him.

_That snake bastard!_ the Uchiha thought to himself, feeling his anger grow with every passing second.

The stoic boy's onyx orbs followed Kabuto as he deliberately stalked past. The scuffing of his sandals echoed against the stone walls rather loudly. Sasuke was about to turn the corner when the silver-haired man's voice suddenly rang out.

"And by the way, you have a new roommate."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked that ending! I decided to change it because I had no idea how to write a scene where Shannon meets Orochimaru without it becoming an unrealistic scene or a Mary-Sue one.<strong>

**Please review after reading! x  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope you're all enjoying this! Please review after reading! It keeps me going and I would really like to finish at least one of my OC stories… And your reviews would really help me through this tough time I'm going through :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Subconsciously I ran my hands through my knotted locks. I could feel my heart beating deeply in my ears, growing louder as my terrified thoughts progressed.<p>

Being so close to such a frightening looking man was… well, there is no word for it; pure evil radiated from his being, humming thickly in the air around us. I had tried to keep confident, but as soon as his flesh came into contact with mine, I literally felt my façade shatter. A cold, uninvited chill enthralled by being. I don't know what it was, but something was gnawing in the back of my mind to stay in his good books by whatever means necessary.

I sighed and clasped the sides of my head, forcing my breathing to slow down. Relief washed over me when I had left that large room. Death was literally hanging in the air, and it almost suffocated me. I could not breathe and I could not speak. If I had stayed in there any longer, I would have crumbled.

Orochimaru had let me keep my name as Shan and nothing more, and stated I would be referred to that from now on. I didn't mind; it was more than I deserved. He then went on to ask me where I had come from.

I had told him all that I knew; that I woke up in a nearby clearing, stumbled into a desert, fell through a gaping hole the ground and ended up being chased by his henchmen, and that raven-haired boy. He then asked me where I had come from. I had lied and said I didn't remember, obviously. I mean, how else would you explain going to sleep in a prison and then waking up in a clearing?

Exactly, but that wasn't the weirdest part.

Orochimaru asked me to join him, and train to become a ninja.

Normally, I would have laughed at such a ridiculous request. Since when the hell did ninjas suddenly exist? As long as I was alive in my world, they didn't. They only existed in movies and comic books. Nothing more.

But because I was frightened out of my wits, I had found myself nodding in acceptance to his request. Orochimaru seemed pleased, and before he sent me away, he told me that training would commence in two days.

"This is fucking ridiculous," I muttered before flopping backwards onto a little mat that the silver-haired boy with glasses—Kabuto, was his name? Yes—gave me.

All I was sure of was that I was safe—for now. That man had given me a place to stay, which I couldn't argue against. A tiny pool of relief welled up inside of me. I almost smiled; I wasn't in that prison, I wasn't lonely, and now, it seemed as if I had a new lease on life.

I snorted.

As if I, of all people, deserved a new lease on life.

_If anything, I deserved to be—_

A low groan snapped me out of my negativity. I jolted upright, instinctively pulling the thin, itchy blanket up to my chest, my eyes fixated on the heavy wooden door that was slowly grinding its way open.

Slowly, the orange light from the never-ending corridors flooded in, turning the tall figure into a silhouette before my eyes. I recognized the spiky hair; it was that raven-haired boy.

He just stood there in the opening. All I could see were his eyes. The incoming light accentuated his black orbs. As the door groaned and clanked shut, his features came into view in the dim lighting of the small room.

The boy was tall. I could tell he was taller than me, but only by a few inches. His raven hair fell in forelocks that reached his chin, and the rest was spiked back behind him. Strangely, I didn't find it weird in the least. He was wearing a white, open-necked shirt, along with purple pants, black sandals and a large purple rope tied around his waist. His outfit resembled that of Orochimaru's and—again—didn't seem weird to me in the least.

I was about to introduce myself, when Kabuto's words rang through my mind.

_"He doesn't take too kindly to strangers, hates being talked to…"_

I stared at the boy.

"… _likes to glare a lot, and isn't keen on making friends. Oh, and if you could refrain from doing so, don't bother him too much…"_

The boy glared back.

"…_otherwise, he might kill you."_

The boy stalked past me silently, his glare intensifying as he entered his bathroom and shut the door behind him rather loudly.

_Jeez, he's like a fucking gremlin; he even comes with instructions and shit,_ I groaned to myself as I glared back at the bathroom door.

The familiar sound of hot, hissing water filtered through the door. The warmth radiated through the wood and under the gaps of the door, and caused my body to hum in delight and desperation. God only knows how long it's been since my last proper shower.

My eyes trailed from the door and landed on the walls as the water shifted and made splashing sounds against the stone floor. The radiating warmth continued to send shivers down my spine. I was itching for a shower, but I figured I'd wait until he was gone. I had never shared a room with anyone before in my entire life, besides Jules and my little sister.

Sighing, I rolled over onto my side and pulled the blanket up to my neck. Being underground, I had absolutely no clue as to what the time was, but judging by my tired body, it was way past my bedtime.

* * *

><p>The ravenette flinched slightly as the hot water washed over his cold skin with a piercing hiss. The heat flowed from his shoulders and arms, down his back, legs and then finally over his toes. A pleasant shiver reverberated through his chest as the heat completely drowned out the cold.<p>

The mirror quickly grew foggy as the heat collided with the coldness of the small, dirty mirror that hung over the cracked porcelain sink. The boy's clothes were left in an unruly heap on the stone floor as he carelessly peeled them off after a hard day's work.

As calming as his shower was, anger was bubbling within him. He didn't care about the fact that Orochimaru had recruited yet another mere test subject, but what did vex him was the fact that the snake bastard had the freaking audacity to dump her in _his_ room.

That snake bastard was certainly pushing his limits with the young Uchiha these days. As he continued to think, the anger grew to a deep annoyance. There was no doubt in his mind that this brat was going to be troublesome. And the fact that she had managed to punch him in the face wasn't winning her any points either.

And as much as he wanted to deny it, Sasuke knew Orochimaru had something planned for this redheaded brat. The fact that he asked her to take her to buy proper ninja attire and forcing him to share his room with her was practically reeking of that theory.

Nonetheless, the ravenette quickly finished his shower and prepared for bed.

* * *

><p>Last night wasn't the best of nights. I tossed and turned, unable to rest. Jules' beautiful face constantly danced through my mind. But it wasn't her usual smile I saw on her beautiful face. Instead, I saw her features twisted in pain, her blacker than black eyes abuzz with hurt, her even darker hair a mess. Screams erupted from her throat, screaming for me to help her, to save her. I would reach out, but I could not reach her. Soon enough, I screamed too.<p>

I woke up to find my face hot and sticky, and my pillow damp with sweat. My faded button up shirt was twisted around my torso, a few buttons popped open from my restlessness. Sighing, I rubbed my temple and sat up. The blanket was around my thighs in a crumpled heap. I raised my hand and fingered the pendent around my neck.

_Jules._

As my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, I saw that the raven-haired boy was gone, his neatly made bed left in his wake. I guessed it was morning; living underground made time perception impossible, which began to irk me. I mean, a freaking hole in the wall was better than nothing.

Silently, I stood up and headed to the bathroom. I closed the door and carelessly stripped off while turning the shower on. The hot water hissed against the cold floor and a cloud of steam wafted up, sending warm reverberations through my core. Showering back in prison was a rare occurrence for me. If I ever trailed into the shower room, I would be beat up, or others would pick fights with me. Whichever happened, all ended the same way; both parties battered and bruised, leaking blood all over the light blue tiles.

As the thought of privacy filtered in my mind, I almost smiled. It had been a long time since I had anything of the sort. So as I stepped under the steaming torrent of water, I savoured every last drop. Looking to my right, there were two bottles, one had an 'S' scrawled into it while the other had a 'C'. That was a no brainer. So I picked up the one labelled S and squirted some of the clear stuff in my palm before roughly massaging it through my choppy, red hair. Soon enough, the dirt left my hair and disappeared down the drain. Next, I lathered my hair with the white stuff from the C bottle. The knots in my hair disappeared and left it silky smooth to the touch.

I paused in my movements as I realized how smooth my hair was. I snorted inwardly. It really _had_ been a long time since I took this much pride in bathing myself. Usually, I had to quickly wash my hair, as I was afraid if being left open for assault if the soap got in my eyes. That had happened before, and I wasn't willing to take that risk ever again. So I rarely washed my hair. I mainly washed my body and then scurried back to my cell before anybody could take a glance at me.

Once washing my body and relishing in the warmth for long enough, I turned the water off and stepped out. A rush of colder than cold air greeted my, but to my relief, a fresh towel was sitting on a small chair next to the cracked, porcelain sink. Quickly, I grabbed it and began to dry myself. I rubbed the thin towel through my hair and soon enough, it was dry. I quickly got dressed, fearing that someone may come in at any given moment.

As I dressed back into my dirty clothes, a flash of red caught my eye. I looked up to my left, where a small mirror was lazily hung over the sink. I buttoned up the last button and gazed into the mirror.

It was my red hair that caught my eye. I mentally slapped myself. Of course something _red_ caught my eye. It was just… brighter than usual, I remembered. I cocked my head gently to the side as I examined my reflection through the cracks and dirty blotches.

My blood-red hair fell in choppy locks just below my chin. The shorter layers stuck out, and gave my head a more rounded look. My green eye and blue eye stared back at me quizzically. I blinked. I had almost forgotten about my abnormality; my one green eye and my one blue eye. My skin was its usual tanned colour and seemed… brighter. Maybe because my face wasn't dirty like it had always been.

But that scar.

The long, one-centimetre jagged scar, which looked like a lightning bolt, trailed from just below my right eyebrow down my cheek and ending under my jaw. I ran my fingers along the odd-feeling tissue. It felt too smooth for its own good, bereft of any warmth or tiny facial hairs, and was a few shades lighter than my own skin colour.

I opened the bathroom door and walked out, closing it softly behind me. The room was a little brighter than before, if that was even possible. The few candles that lined the walls were the only light in the room. I guessed it was morning, but I wasn't sure.

The room itself was pretty depressing. A single bed was pushed up against the far wall, with a simple grey blanket and flat pillow resting neatly upon it. The walls, much like the corridors, were carved with the same circular pattern, which caused shadows to dance under the feeble candlelight. A small cupboard that came up to my thigh was stationed next to the bed. It had two drawers above a small set of double doors. Other than that, and my makeshift bed on the floor against the opposite wall, the room was utterly bare.

Couching down, I decided to take a look-see, considering I was going to be living here for God only knows how long. The two drawers dryly groaned open. I expected them to be bare, but instead, held various light brown pouches. My curiosity got the better of me, so I picked up one of the pouches. I almost dropped it; it was much heavier than expected. The sound of clinking metal coming from inside the pouch only piqued my curiosity all the more.

So I lifted the flap and peered inside. Clustered together were these knives with odd-looking handles. It blade itself was an elongated diamond shape that ended in a rather sharp point. Ninja tools, I assumed, finally remembering why I was even here in the first place. And I assumed more pouches contained more of these weapons.

I carefully picked up on of the knives and weighed it. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that heavy, despite being such a dense metal. The sharp blade glinted in the orange glow of the room. I firmly grasped the handle and twirled the blade around a few times before accidentally dropping it.

Cursing, I watched as the blade clinked to the floor and ricocheted under the bed. I dropped the pouch by my side, shifted into a laying position and reached blindly under the bed to fetch the weapon before that boy returned.

As I swung my arm around, it hit something large, soft and incredibly dusty. I was relieved that it wasn't something sharp. So I pulled out whatever this thing was with one soft tug.

Upon this, a huge cloud of dust greeted me as the bag slid out form under the bed. I coughed and waved the dust off. To my surprise, it was a backpack. Wiping the coats of dust off, I unzipped the backpack. It was pretty much empty, except for something small and rectangular.

I pulled whatever-it-was out, and my eyes widened.

It was a photo frame, but that wasn't what surprised me. What surprised me was _who_ was in the frame. The three kids in the frame were very young, and I only recognized one. It was—

A loud slam caused me to jump. The frame slipped from my hands and shattered on the stone floor. From my crouching position, I turned around to see _him_ standing there.

_How did he get there? I didn't even hear him open the door…_

But that was the least of my problems. His features were taught into a rather nasty scowl. Those blacker than black eyes were hard and cold. His eyebrows were pinched together, arms folded across his chest. Hooked onto his hip was a long, skinny sword.

Slowly, I got to my feet and faced the boy.

"I—"

"I don't care what you have to say," the boy seethed completely cutting me off, "But I'd thank you _not_ to go through my personal belongings."

I narrowed my eyes but didn't respond. This moody, brooding, arrogant pig was definitely going to be a problem, especially since we were now sharing a room. Right now, I preferred being back in prison, where I had no cellmate. Suddenly, that option seemed a hundred times better than sharing the room with the likes of this bastard.

* * *

><p><strong>I was going to make this a little longer, but I though I'd save more for chapter 4! So I hope this was to your expectations. Pretty please read and review! :D x<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Not much to say, so here's the next chapter!**

**Enjoy! Please read and review!**

* * *

><p>Slowly, the skinny, red-haired brat stood to her feet. The Uchiha could see that by the loud slamming of the door, it jolted her uncomfortably, and the boy felt some kind of satisfaction in watching her flinch with fear. He cared not for the shattered glass at her feet, but what irked him was the fact she was snooping around his personal belongings.<p>

He glared at her as they both stood there, as if frozen in time. Blood-red bangs hung over her left eye, exposing only one green one. Her stance was debated between cowering and preparing for attack. She was clean, but her clothes were bloodstained and dirty. Her expression was somewhat apologetic, but hovered the thin line between that and annoyance for being scared by the ravenette.

Needless to say, she looked pitiful to the Uchiha.

"I—"

"I don't care what you have to say," the boy seethed, completely cutting her off. "But I'd thank you _not_ to go through my personal belongings."

Instead of apologizing, the girl narrowed her eyes, her fear quickly vanishing from them. In its place, her exposed orb was replaced with something akin to dark irritation. Her sudden change in disposition was somewhat frightening—to someone looking in on the two beings. It was like witnessing a dangerous shift in personality. For the Uchiha, he did notice, but couldn't care less, even if he tried. Nonetheless, he believed it to be a trick of the light, so he turned and headed for the bathroom.

"Wait."

Her voice was stronger than he had anticipated. It was scratchy, but not irritating. There was no fear in her voice, but something close to confidence. It didn't quiver, nor was it pleading. Despite the urge to ignore her, Sasuke turned his head slightly.

"Who are you? And why am I here?" the girl asked, her voice now confident.

"It's customary to give your own name before asking someone else's," the boy mocked back coldly.

"That's not what I asked," the girl quipped back.

* * *

><p>These glowing, orange hallways never seemed to end. No matter where I turned, around every corner was an exact duplicate from the hallway I'd just turned from. It was getting rather irritating, to say the least.<p>

For about three days, I was stuck in that cramped room, watching the boy—who I later learned was named _Sasuke Uchiha_—come and go as he pleased. He would be up at the crack of dawn and wouldn't return until it became dark. He never said a word to me, and would barely even pass a second glance as I just sat there.

I was told to never leave the room unless asked—which was never. That man, Kabuto, would bring me a tray of food, twice a day. He, too, would never say anything to me, but somehow, he appeared kinder than Sasuke. Maybe it was his smile, or his calm demeanour.

But the food was bland and tasteless. I only nibbled at it here and there; just enough to tide me by until the next tray was bought. My stomach growled incessantly, but I didn't care. I mean, prison food was no five-star Italian cuisine, but compared to this slop, it might as well have been.

As I turned yet another corner, my face fell.

Exactly the same as the hallway I'd just been in. I sighed exasperatedly and nonetheless kept walking. I figured it was going to become hard to find my way through these halls, so I borrowed—without permission—one of those daggers from Sasuke's pouch and used it to mark a small 'x' next to the first candle to my right in every hallway I turned into.

I passed a few doors. All were closed. Sure, my curiosity was piqued, but there was no telling what kind of other people lived here. Were they dangerous? Should I fear them? I didn't want to find out. Orochimaru was proof enough that people who were no-good resided here.

I was thankful that nobody had passed me in the hallways. Right now, I was thinking about turning back and following my markers back to the room, when I heard the faint scuffling of footsteps. Pausing, I tried to tell where they were coming form. I stopped and listened hard, holding my breath in the process. I could definitely hear them, and they were definitely coming closer, but where from?

Not wanting to risk bumping into unwanted company, I quickly turned on my heel and began following my markers back to the room. I thanked my brain over and over for coming up with the idea of the markers. There was no chance in Hell that I'd be able to sneak away from whoever was coming toward me and return to the room if I had no way to get there.

Suddenly, the scuffing footsteps grew louder and louder. I quickened my pace, gripping the dagger tightly in my hand, poised to attack whomever this was. I stole a glance behind me, but no one was there. I turned back to facing the front and broke into a jog after I turned the next corner.

My paranoia was getting the better of me. With each and every passing second, the scuffing grew louder and closer. Picking up the pace to a run, I stole a glance over my shoulder as I turned yet another hallway. Still no one.

As I was about to turn my gaze back around, I crashed into someone.

I stumbled and fell backwards onto the stone floor, the dagger falling from my palm and clinking on the ground beside me. Panicky and irritated, I looked up to see whom I had bumped into—

"Hey, _watch it_, you—!"

—and came face to face with Kabuto.

I could see his glasses reflected in the orange glow as they were peeking over the cardboard box he was carrying.

Placing the box down on the ground beside him, Kabuto reached a hand down. Cautiously, I took it and pulled myself to my feet. Brushing myself off, I quietly thanked him. He returned merely with a smile.

"What are you doing wandering the hallways all by yourself?" he asked, picking his box back up off the ground.

I blinked.

"Oh… I was just… getting some air," I lied, rubbing the back of my neck. "You don't expect me to stay in that stuffy room with that brooding bastard all day, do you?"

Kabuto chuckled. "No, I suppose not," he said, turning on his side, motioning for me to walk with him. Quickly, I picked up the dagger from the stone floor and joined in the walk beside him.

After a few moments of silence and a few turned corners later, I decided to break the silence.

"So, Kabuto," I began, running a hand through my choppy red locks nervously. "Why… why exactly am I here?"

The silver-haired man didn't waste time in answering. "Orochimaru sees potential in you, and believes you will become of some use to him."

"…Use to him?" I asked.

Kabuto nodded. "He believes you could become a great ninja, after he saw your demonstration on the security tapes a few days ago."

"May I ask how that's confirmation of my… potential?" I asked as we turned another corner.

Kabuto uttered another small chuckle. "You took out three guards, and managed to punch one of the strongest ninja alive in the face. Call it luck, call it skill, but Orochimaru sees something in you nonetheless."

I let that sink in for a few moments. Orochimaru really sees potential in me? All I did was defend myself. I didn't really believe my attacks were on target. But the fact that Kabuto reminded me that I managed to punch Sasuke put a tiny smile on my face.

Finally, Kabuto stopped. He looked at me, and then at the door beside him.

"We're here."

I nodded. I walked around him to get to the door. Grabbing the heavy knob, I turned it and was about to let myself in when I had one more question.

"Kabuto?"

"Yes?"

"How did I get here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," he said, placing the box in my arms. "But none of that matters right now. You're to be a ninja. Appropriate clothing and weaponry are in the box. Be up bright and early tomorrow. Training will begin then."

And with that, Kabuto was gone.

* * *

><p>Placing the box down on the floor, I rested against the icy cold, stone wall. The cold, hard stone sent shivers down my back. Slowly, I sank down to my feet beside the box. I hugged my knees to my chest and pulled them close. Tightness welled up in my throat, but I refused to cry. Crying was for the weak. I'd done enough of that back home. It certainly got me nowhere back home, what on earth could it possibly do for me in this horrid place?<p>

I shivered again. Reaching for my poor excuse for a blanket, I wrapped it around my body, trying to conserve what little body heat I had. This place was always kept cold, and I hated it. There was no source of heat besides my own body heat and the shower.

Slowly, I reached for the pendant around my neck. I ran the tip over the light 'J' engraving, and the violent tornado of twisted and conflicted emotions swelled up in my chest. Anger, hurt, sorrow, confusion; all of them boiled within me hotly. I balled my free fist tightly and with one deft swing, I knocked the box over, hard.

The box was sent tipping and skidding sideways across the stone floor, its contents spilling out and leaving a trail from me to it. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I took a few calming breaths before getting to me feet to pick up my mess. There was no use getting angry now. I was stuck in this world of ninjas and freaks—with no clue as to how I'd even gotten here, or how I was supposed to leave—and I was going to have to get used to it pretty quickly.

Begrudgingly, I went around and picked up all the contents. There was a small khaki coloured pouch—probably filled with weapons just like Sasuke's—a pair of black shorts, a white singlet, an odd looking pair of black sandals and some white tape.

I paused to look at my own clothing. I almost cringed. My faded blue button-up prison shirt was caked with dried blood, dirt and God knows what else. My pants weren't much better off. They were just like my shirt, only with extra fraying at the hem. A piece had actually torn off the right pant leg and was hanging by a thread at my feet.

Placing the pouch, shoes and tape back in the dented box, I headed to the bathroom. Locking the door—double checking—I quickly stripped off. I left my prison uniform on the floor and slipped into the shorts and singlet. Scarily, they were the right size. I pushed aside the thoughts on how these people here seemed to know my size and just concluded that it was a lucky guess.

Looking into the tiny, dirty mirror that overhung the cracked sink, I almost smiled. Not out of happiness, mind you. Just at the fact that these people had gone to enough trouble to take so much care of me. Compared to the prison, they were treating me a little better—save for the shitty food and horrible sleeping arrangements.

The white singlet was snug and fitted perfectly. The shorts were the same. They were skin tight. I turned to the side a few times and examined myself in the mirror. I looked better, and I suddenly felt happier too. I was free of the burden of those horrible prison clothes and the hurtful memories that were attached to them.

* * *

><p>Sasuke had entered the room just in time to see the red-headed brat exit the bathroom. Placing his tray of food and his sword on the bed, his eyes trailed her as she ignored him and walked over to a small box beside her makeshift bed.<p>

The girl—who Kabuto had referred to as Shan—was clad in a simple white singlet and black shorts. She was now free of those dirty clothes, which were currently being tossed into the box. Her blood red hair covered her face as she crouched down and busied herself by rummaging through the box.

Relieving his body of all weaponry and footwear, he stalked into the bathroom. Stripping off, he turned the shower knob. The hot water hissed against the cold stone floor, the steam quickly rising and fogging up the dirty glass cubicle.

The Uchiha stepped inside. He flinched as the searing hot water spat across his skin, but then relaxed and let the water run over his torso, his stomach, his legs, shoulders and arms. Washing his raven locks and body in record time, he turned off the water, reached for the towel and dried his body.

As Sasuke reached up to dry his hair, he flinched. His right arm tingled and stung throbbingly, sending little unpleasant jolts down his arm. He knew he had pulled a muscle during training, but it would heal soon enough. He would still train the next day, but try to refrain from using that arm. It was good practise to be ambidextrously skilled in swordsmanship, and the pulled muscle in his favoured arm was enough to push him toward decision.

* * *

><p>I heard the bathroom door click and swing open, followed by footsteps padding silently across the stone floor. I didn't bother to look up. Sasuke barely noticed I was living with him anyway. Trying to make conversation with that bastard was harder than nailing jelly to a tree.<p>

Shifting the dagger carefully in my hands, I ran my fingers over the length of the blade. I marvelled at the sleek workmanship of the blade. It was deathly straight and sharp, and shone brilliantly, despite the feeble orange lighting in the room.

Next, I picked up a star-shaped weapon. It was small and nimble, and could rest easily in the palm of my hand. It had four distinct points and a hole in the middle. I slid my index finger through the hole of the tool and spun it around a few times by each tip.

All in all, I had about six of the long blades and ten of the star-shaped weapons in the pouch. These were ninja tools, and the only ones given to me. They really were authentic ninja tools. I couldn't help but smile lightly when I realized that I was going to actually learn how to use real-life weapons. I'd heard of these tools before, but only in those fake stores you see when people go on holidays to different countries.

I looked up to see the brooding bastard sit on the edge of his bed, pull a small book from his bedside drawer, pick up a tray of food and begin to eat. I lifted my head a little higher to see what was on his tray.

Jesus bloody Christ.

On his tray were three rice balls, half a small loaf of bread and a steaming cup of something. It didn't look like a world class feast, but it was clear that we were in a game of favourites, and it was also clear that I was at the bottom, and my brooding friend was clearly at the very top.

His eyes flickered up from the book to meet mine. They were the deepest shade of onyx, and painfully devoid of any emotion. They were stone-like and impassive, but the dark glare that adorned his face was enough to make it clear that he was somewhat irritated.

To me, he was _always_ irritated.

His gaze hardened and returned to his book. I was about to look away too, when I saw his hand reach for the bread and toss it toward me in one simple, fluid motion. I clumsily caught it in my hands. The bread was slightly warm in my palms, signalling that it had just been pulled out of the oven. It smelled heavenly.

But just what was this guy up to?

I've been here for no less than a week, and upon my arrival, the first thing that he spat at me was to stay out of his belongings. Other than that, he barely noticed I was there; ignoring me like I was some sort of plague. He never even said a word to me, and now he was offering me part of his dinner?

Something was up.

I mean, sure, it was a rather nice gesture—despite the hard, annoyed look on his face—but when you suddenly wake up in a whole other world of ninjas and creeps and get offered food by a boy who could literally glare someone to death within minutes, you do have your judgements.

Cautiously, I placed the bread down beside me and continued examining the weapons, despite the fact that I had already done so.

"Eat."

My head perked up at the sound of his voice. It was low and dark, laced with irritation and boredom.

"Not hungry," I replied as I continued to aimlessly finger the weapons. I knew it was wrong for me to assume this guy was going to poison me or whatever, but I don't trust anybody. I've only trusted a very small handful of people in my life, and this boy wasn't going to be one of them anytime soon.

The bastard returned his gaze to his book. The glare was still as prominent as ever, but it didn't scare me. He could glare at me all he wanted. It quickly went silent, but the loud gurgling erupting form my stomach broke it and echoed throughout the tiny room.

"Your stomach says otherwise," Sasuke said to me, his eyes still trained on his book. "Now, eat."

I huffed angrily but didn't respond as I reached for the bread and took a bite. There was no use arguing with a person like this. Even if we were arguing about nothing in particular, and I happened to be right on the subject, he would still prove me wrong somehow. It sounds weird, but that's just how Sasuke is—to me.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all liked that! Please don't be shy to review! I would really like this story to be quite popular! That would be amazing! :)<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**I know this story probably won't be too popular anytime soon, but please, I would like some honest reviews about this so far. I really hope Sasuke is in character. I'm trying to make Shan similar to Sasuke personality wise, but not as devoid of emotion. She's still cold sometimes and quite reserved, but she's also curious and has a genuine heart of gold, but sometimes her decisions aren't the best one could make.**

**So please share your thoughts on this story! And as you can see by chapter progression, I'm hoping this story will be a very lengthy one! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>I cried out again in pain as my body collided with the stone floor. The connection echoed throughout the dark chamber and my cry rang out against the walls before fading. Finally skidding to a stop, I managed to catch my breath as the small dust cloud cleared. My chest heaved, sucking in as much air as my lungs possibly could. I was matted with sweat, blood, cuts and bruises. My body ached all over, throbbing with every beat my heart took.<p>

Grunting, I managed to roll over onto my hands and knees into a crouched position. Blood trickled down my chin and my head throbbed. Pushing through the pain, I stumbled to my feet and prepared to face my opponent once more.

Kabuto had been training me into the ground for the past two months. I had learned a great deal in that time. I had learned about the basics of ninja-arts: chakra, taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu, as well as the ninja principals. It was so weird to me at first; I still couldn't believe that this was all real. At any minute, I was expecting to wake up in my prison cell, all alone, drenched in sweat, and finding out that this was all just a weird, extremely vivid dream.

But it wasn't.

Every morning, I woke up in the same cold room just in time to see the brooding bastard Sasuke leave without even so much as a backward glance. I sometimes said good morning if our eyes connected for longer than three seconds, and he would just nod in response. Other than that—as always—I barely existed in his eyes. That didn't bother me so much. We barely crossed path during the day anyway.

And just like clockwork, Kabuto would bring me breakfast, wait for me to change, then lead me to the big empty chamber and run me into the ground with his training. After that, I'd return to my room, only to wake up the next morning and repeat the same routine over and over again.

But I'd be lying if I said I didn't like training. After my first session, something was ignited deep within me. I felt alive; more alive than I ever have in my entire life, and for the first time in my life, I didn't feel useless. Kabuto took the time to train me, and didn't give up on me like everyone else has back home. He pushed me further and further, and even complimented me once, here and there.

I think I finally have something to strive toward.

"You're improving," Kabuto said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He walked toward me, his right hand glowing and humming with green chakra.

When I had first seen Kabuto's hand glow, words could not describe how terrified and relieved I had felt. Now, when he would heal me during battle, I felt nothing; just the simple humming of his chakra against my skin.

Gently, he placed his glowing palm over the deep gash on my right leg. There was a stinging sensation where the wound was, and then just a gentle numbness as the skin and muscle was stitched back together. The blood stopped running and all that was left was a very faint scar.

"But you still have a long way to go," he added gravely. "I can't keep healing you like this during training. Once you are caught on the battlefield, there is nobody to heal you; nobody to save you. You're going to have to start defending yourself even more. You should be starting to develop chakra very soon, and when that time comes, I will teach jutsu to you."

I thanked him as he pulled me to my feet. After he took his place a few meters away from me, we both resumed battle formations and continued to fight. Kabuto tensed as I charged toward him, kunai poised. Just before I could reach him, he had vanished. I cursed under my breath, quickly whipping around to see where he would appear. I had no way on sensing this, so often I acted on pure instinct and luck.

I was sent sprawling across the stone floor as he once again landed a punch to my face. Quickly flipping over into a somersault, I managed to get to my feet just in time to see the shining blade of a kunai coming for my neck. Ducking, the kunai missed me by a mere inch, and I managed to deflect it a second time with my own kunai.

Kabuto and I were deadlocked for a few seconds before he pulled away. He swung his leg around and I blocked it with my forearms in an 'x' formation. He swivelled around and aimed a series of punches to my face and torso. Luckily, I blocked all of them and managed to throw a few hits myself. Of course, he blocked them all effortlessly.

My anger besting me, I lunged forward, uttering a battle cry as I aimed a punch toward Kabuto. Before my fist could collide with his face, a sharp pain greeted me in my gut. Freezing, my arm dropped with the rest of my body as I fell to the floor, gasping for air. As I looked up, I saw Kabuto's leg coming down on my hard.

Rolling to my left, I missed the oncoming kick. I felt the stone floor of the chamber rumble and crack under the force of his kick. He must have infused chakra into that kick. I was glad I had missed it; Kabuto had been going rougher on me this past week. I wished I could summon chakra like Kabuto. Judging by the way he used it, it looked like an extremely powerful part of being a ninja, and there was no ninja on earth who didn't possess it. Kabuto had told me that chakra is developed through intense training, and that in about a week's time, my first spark should appear.

I had learned that someone's chakra reserves could be phenomenal, if one was willing to put in the training. Kabuto had said that one with limitless chakra could do things beyond the limits of any ninja. After showing me a few of his jutsu, he was right. The things that ninja could do intrigued and terrified me to no comprehension. And I wanted to be like them so badly.

* * *

><p>After three more hours of intensive training, Kabuto decided to call it quits for today. He looked completely and utterly unscathed, which is more than one could say for me. I was covered in countless bruises and lacerations. Blood seeped out from parts of my body I didn't even know he had managed to hit. All I could taste was blood, sweat and dirt. My hair and clothes clung thickly to my face and body. Breathing heavily, I managed to drag myself out of the chamber and into the orange glow of the corridors that still irk me to this very day.<p>

Finally, I had managed to find my way around this place. Not on my own, but form the markers that I had made during my first week here. I could only find my way to the chamber, my room, and the small cafeteria area that I hadn't even known existed. I absolutely refused to go in there.

The first time I had walked into the cafeteria, I was lucky enough to see Sasuke sitting there. Kabuto had said I should 'get to know' some of the other subordinates that lived here. The people here were vile, disgusting and hideous. These were the kind of people you would see locked up in—

As I now pushed open the wooden door and entered said room, that's where it all went feral.

Again.

Their beady eyes leered at me as I walked past, in a desperate search for Sasuke. They shouted vile, shuddering things at me; what 'beautiful' hair I had, what a 'nice looking' body I had, what they wanted to do to me if they had the chance—the list goes on. My eyes finally found Sasuke, sitting in a corner table by himself. I thanked the Lord that the food had been set out on tables.

If I had managed to avoid those freaks for two months, there was no rule saying I had to face them anytime soon. Quickly, I slid in next to Sasuke, reaching for the first piece of food that looked seemingly edible. The stoic boy beside me didn't even falter. He just continued to eat and read a scroll that was unfurled on the stone table before him. I didn't bother to try and figure out what he was reading, though I was curious to know.

This boy was always by himself. I didn't know exactly why, but I knew he was important to Orochimaru in some way, shape or form. I guessed he was training with that snake bastard personally, as I never saw either of them during the day. I was also curious to find out where he trained. Sasuke certainly never trained indoors; he would always come in with the faint scent of grass upon him.

I shuddered again as another disgusting call was directed my way. I flinched, but dared not remove my eyes from my food. I kept my head down and mouth shut, planning to leave whenever the brooding bastard planned to leave.

Sure, Sasuke still wasn't tops on my all-time favourites list, but if I had to narrow it down to people within this vicinity, yeah, he would be tops. Somehow, I felt at ease in his presence. He was powerfully built, but was only a couple of inches taller than me. I guess the spikes at the back of his head made up for those last few centimetres. I mean, my eyes were roughly level with his nose, so he didn't really scare me if he couldn't tower over me.

I could also tell the other subordinates were afraid of him. Sometimes, I would see them cower in fear when he would stalk past. And when walking in the hallways, they would scrape by the walls, heads down, and their frightened aura so quivering that even I could sense it.

Oh yes, I found out that the brooding bastard does not _walk_. At all. He _stalks._

How odd.

* * *

><p>Despite having his nose buried in a scroll at the far corner of the cafeteria area, he always kept his senses aware. That was how he noticed the filthy calls start up as he heard the creak of the wooden door. They grew louder, and he didn't have to guess how was coming into the cafeteria. Seeing the flicker of red at the corner of his eyes, he didn't have to guess that it was the redheaded girl, Shan, taking a seat beside him. The calls still persisted, despite her taking a seat beside the most feared ninja in the Sound base. Another vulgar call echoed throughout the room, and he saw the girl shudder beside him.<p>

The girl beside him said nothing as she kept her head down and eyes trained on her food. She wasn't cowering, just simply trying to avoid eye contact with those freaks that Orochimaru kept around. Of course, he didn't blame her for sitting next tom him. He knew as well as she did that nobody would touch her if she was in the presence of an Uchiha.

_Smart girl_, he thought.

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of cramming in as much food as I possibly could, something shifted beside me. I looked up to see Sasuke rising out of his chair while rolling his scroll back up. Quickly and methodically, he placed the scroll in the open-collar of his shirt, slid out of his chair without so much as a single scrape, and began to make a beeline for the door.<p>

My heart dropped at the realization that my only safe-haven in this godforsaken place was indeed intending to leave. My heart began to pump.

_Shit, shit, shit!_

Standing to my feet, I brushed off the last crumbs and took a last swig of water form the cup, hoping that I would make it in time to catch Sasuke going out the door.

_It'll be a cold day in Hell before I end up left alone in a room with these freaks!_

Snapping my head up, my eyes went wide. There was no sign of Sasuke anywhere. I hastily pushed my chair back and made a hopefully quiet dash to the door. I prayed to ever God out there that nobody would notice me leaving. I had managed to avoid contact with these freaks for this long; I prayed that I could keep up this streak for just a little while longer until I could figure a way out of here and—

_And then what?_ a voice inside my head mocked._ And then go back home?_

I stopped dead.

_Back home to that tiny, dingy cell that shall be the last thing you ever see before you rot to death? Ha! Fat chance. You have no idea where you are, do you? You're in a whole other world now. There is no way home. You're stuck here forever and—_

"Shut _up_!" I hissed under my breath as I gave the heavy chair one final push.

But to my dismay, luck was not on my side. Then again, when was luck _ever_ on my side?

The knot of dread twisted itself tightly in my stomach as a hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"Hey, girlie," the raspy, deep voice said. "Just where do you think you're going?"

I shook the heavy hand off as I continued on my dash for the door. The cat calls became louder and more vulgar as I heard the big burly one move up behind me. His hand came to rest on my hip. Before I knew what I was doing, I whirled around and smacked his hand away.

"Back off!" I snarled.

This only earned me a fit full of laughter.

"Hey boys! Get a load of the little spitfire! Looks like she's got some fire in 'er!"

A chorus of sick laughter rang throughout the eating chamber. The man, clearly the alpha of the group, took a dangerous step forward and reached for me again. I took a step forward and sent a punch flying his way.

"I said _back off_!" I growled as my fist satisfyingly connected with his left cheek. The man stumbled back a little as the chorus of laughter immediately died, and the room fell deathly quiet.

…_Shit._

Turning back to face me, the man's expression was murderous. His hand cupped where I had hit him, and his eyes were wide with dangerous intent. I took a few steps back, praying I could make a run for it before he—

A hand clamped around my neck and hoisted me off the ground. Scratching at the larger than normal hand, I tried to speak, but my throat was completely constricted. Higher and higher he lifted me off the ground. My feet felt nothing but air. I tried to kick, but the sudden lack of air and the fact I had just come back from training made it no easier.

"Listen here, _bitch_," the man snarled in my ear. "Just because you're with the Uchiha doesn't mean he's always going to be around to protect you. Chances are, he would much rather see you be torn limb from limb than step in to save the likes of you!"

The sudden connection of my back against the hard, stone wall made me choke. I tried to suck in air, but it was useless. My vision was beginning to grow hazy very quickly. My head began to spin as the man leaned in again.

"Anyway, who would want to save a useless piece of trash like you?"

His iron-like grip intensified. Colours flashed before my eyes. My lungs ached.

"Fact of the matter is, you'll die before you even see the light of day."

After he spoke those words, everything went blurry. It was a kaleidoscope of grey, black and red. Again and again, the brute slammed me down on the ground, kicked me and shouted incoherent obscenities at me. My body bounced on the stone floor as he reached for the scruff of my neck to repeat his vicious actions.

My head was throbbing, and my heart pounded in my ears. I could taste the warm, metallic liquid as it slid through my teeth and trickled down my chin. My chest heaved. My eyes would not focus. I tried to call out, but my cries fell on deaf ears.

One last time, I was slammed into the wall, but instead of slumping to the floor, a burly arm held me there by my neck. Before I could register what was happening, something warm began to slide under my top and up my torso.

A shriek erupted from my throat, and his hand stopped. I thought that my shriek had stopped him, that is, until I realized that another voice had spoken up.

"Hey, now," the voice said. "Why is it that _you_ get to have all the fun?"

A chorus of agreement followed from the others.

"Shut up," the man holding me growled back to the voice. Thankfully, I felt the heat fade away from my torso.

"Hey, yeah!" another voice said. "We _all_ have urges, you know!"

The bile rose in the back of my throat.

"Shut up, all of you!" my captor bellowed, turning his head away from me to face the others. "It's not my fault that you're all too piss-weak to try anything! Haven't you ever heard of first come, first serve?"

"What a load of bullshit!" one voice yelled.

"You selfish bastard!"

"We've all stood by and let you have all the fun! It's time we had our turn!"

"Yeah! Let's get him!"

Suddenly, I was dropped to the floor. My head felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds, but I refused to let it droop. The sounds of men growling and punching, snarling and kicking began to fill the air.

The sounds of chairs toppling over and trays clanging to the stone floor echoed throughout the chamber. The harsh sounds of skin hitting skin, bones cracking and cries of failure filled the air. When my vision returned to almost normal, I saw that the subordinates were so completely caught up in fighting for dominance, they had completely forgotten that their main objective was still slumped on the floor.

_Don't need to tell me twice._

As silently and quickly as I could, I leaned against the wall and pushed myself to my feet. My head throbbed and my vision blacked out, but I refused to give in. I mean, how more vicious would these freaks be after their fight for dominance? I didn't want to stick around and find out.

My whole being ached with each and every step, but I pushed on. A gush of cool air greeted me as I pushed past the doors into the familiar orange glow of the corridors. Clumsily, I fumbled against the walls, trying to find my markers. The sounds of the fight for male dominance faded into nothing as I pressed on.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

A wave of relief washed over me once I was surrounded by silence. Blinking away the probable concussion, I took a step forward, then another, and another. One by one, I found each marker, and little by little, I found the door to my room.

I used every last ounce of strength I had to push open the wooden door. It creaked open, revealing none other than Sasuke, calmly sitting atop his bed, sharpening his sword in long, lean strokes.

Sasuke.

_Sasuke._

Rage boiled deep within me, and something snapped.

_That bastard!_

"You…" I breathed.

Sasuke actually had the audacity to look up.

"You… you _bastard!"_ I shrieked hoarsely, pointing an accusing finger at him, despite the pain. "Who the _fuck_ do you think you are? How could you just… just _leave me_ like that, huh? What the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

Brooding Bastard didn't respond. His always-there glare just deepened.

I took a step forward. My body screamed for rest, but I pushed through.

"There we were, eating, and then you suddenly decide what it would be like to get up and leave me—_alone_, mind you—in a room with those disgusting freaks?" I screeched, taking a step forward, heaving ain another breath to continue my word-vomit.

"I was beaten within an inch of my fucking life back there! And you have the freaking audacity to leave me there, alone, to go and sharpen your goddamn sword? Are you _fucking kidding me?"_

Still, he said nothing. He sat there, mid-stroke, glaring at me from the corner of his eye.

_From the corner of his fucking eye! Like I don't matter at all!_

A growl erupted from my throat. I took another step forward, and raised my clenched fist, ready to knock some sense into this punk.

"Why you little—_uhn!"_

The wall kindly gave my bruised back yet another 'solid' greeting as the Uchiha slammed me against it—hard. My head cracked against the stone wall as something cool and sharp came to rest against my neck.

Opening my eyes, I was face to face with a pair of blood-red ones, akin to the exact same shade of my hair. A jolt of déjà vu flickered through my mind and sent me flying back to my first encounter with the brooding bastard. We were just like this; me against the wall, and those dangerous eyes boring into mine.

The Sharingan.

It didn't take a genius to learn what his eyes did. In my two months here, I had pissed him off more times than I could count, but on one occasion, he flashed me those dangerous, scarlet eyes.

It took me only a moment to realize his sword was pinned against my neck. I was afraid to swallow, incase the sharp blade would cut my skin. I held my breath, a defiant glare on my face, awaiting whatever he was about to dish out on me.

* * *

><p>Never in his life had the Uchiha received such an ear-bashing. Accompanying his already bad day of failing to perfect a forbidden jutsu was the redheaded brat bursting into the room, screaming like a banshee.<p>

Truth be told, it was the last thing he needed.

Pausing mid-stroke, and glaring at the brat from the corner of his eye, the anger bubbled within him. Never in his life, since leaving that cursed village behind, had he met another person like this. She was a deathly mixture of the ones he had left behind. The short, shocking colour of hair was all too familiar of a certain pink-haired weakling, the screeching was too reminiscent of him of the other blonde haired one, and her sometimes-taciturn nature mimicked that of a silver-haired jounin. Never had he been so rudely reminded of the ties he had severed.

Sasuke hated this girl. He hated her for being a constant reminder of what he had left behind, and before he knew what he was doing, he had slammed her against the wall, the blade of his sword edged at her throat.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, talk about getting off on the wrong foot!<strong>

**Anyway, one thing to clear up: **

**When Shan entered the cafeteria, the only reason the men catcalled out to her was because they are men. Shan does not possess any goddess-like qualities about her stature in the least. She just has an average body; no big boobs or massive hips or tiny waist. Just a normal girl, looking a little malnourished from being in prison, and now, a little tones in the arms and calves from training.**

**The reason for that explanation was because I didn't wasn't to get a mass stack of reviews claiming she is Mary-Sue because the men were calling to her. They were perverted calls, which made her feel scared and uncomfortable.**

**Now, see that little button labelled 'review'? Yeah, I want you click on that. Come one, it doesn't hurt! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

…**Have you ever wondered how you can download all the background music to Naruto and Naruto Shippuden _for free?_ Keep reading; the answer is at the very end of this chappy in the author's notes!**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! More exciting stuff comin' at ya!**

* * *

><p>Thick tendrils of scarlet-red wisp around in the cracked sink before they vanish down the plug. The old tap whines and hisses at a constant high pitch as the water rushes out to drown my blood from the basin, as if trying to rid the world from the stains of mistakes. It feels cool on my hot skin as I splash more onto my hot face. The metallic taste of blood clings to every crevice of my teeth and gums as I scrub away the last splotches and dried up rivulets from my face. I rinse my mouth out a couple of times before even considering looking at my reflection.<p>

My hair is dirty, matted and wound together with so many knots; I don't even know where to begin, so I just leave it. My face is reddened in some parts, and beginning to bruise in others. My skin is rough and blotchy, and I ache all over. I brush my fringe aside and am greeted with hues of green and blue. I blink rapidly, but tiredly, and it does not help. My head pounds and trying to retain focus makes it worse.

I tightly wrench my hands around the edge of the basin and heave a loud sigh, hoping all my frustration will disappear, but it doesn't. I wish to grasp the sink harder, but my body is screaming out for rest, but I don't want to go back out there. I was surprised that Sasuke didn't kill me right then and there. I mean, my mouth has always gotten me daringly close to being killed on countless, numerous occasions, why should that moment just then be of any exception?

To be honest, a small part of me wished Sasuke had slit my throat. Then maybe I could find out if this is really all was a dream. Or maybe I could actually die, and be reunited with Jules and her baby that I so yearned to see, and be rid of this unforgiving world. Maybe he could have been the one to save me from all this pain.

But that was all just wishful thinking. Life isn't fair. Life has never been fair. Why should I have begun to think any different?

I suddenly began to feel a little guilty. It was not my place to vent all of my pent up anger with the boy who had let me live in his room against his will, despite it being a simple mat and blanket on a floor. He had let me sit next to him during mealtimes; I knew he didn't have to. He could have gotten up and walked away; the choice was always there. And he could have killed me; I knew I probably deserved to die.

_Fact of the matter is, you'll die before you even see the light of day._

A shudder coursed through my aching body at the raw truth in that hideous man's words. No matter how hard I tried to push his haunting words away, I knew they held no lies. I gazed up at my reflection again. My face was still stained with dirt and little dry, cracked trails of blood. I then realize that the tap is still running, so quickly, I scrub off the very last remnants of earlier events and switch off the tap with a screech. The water gurgles down the drain before all goes silent.

Grabbing the hem of my singlet, I pull it up and dry my face. I push through the groaning aches of my arms, back, torso and legs. My muscles burn and I begin to feel light-headed, and then I began to feel anger. Again, my hands find their way to the rim of the basin and squeeze so hard that my knuckles turn white.

Despite being ignorant of this place's true purpose, I knew one thing was for certain. I had to get out of this place. Yes, that was it… I needed to wait and find a chance to escape this place. Come hell or high water, I swear I'll find a way to leave this place. It wasn't going to be easy, and it was going to take some time, but it seemed possible. A newfound determination rose within me, and I suddenly became very aware of what I had to do. Call it a goal, call it a mission; call what you will, but it was the same either way.

I had to escape, and I'll do it if it was the last thing I'd ever do.

* * *

><p>Two months had passed since my encounter in that godforsaken mess hall. I now steer clear of others, solely focusing on my training in order to better my chances of finding a way out of this place. Kabuto still trained me, and was becoming a more powerful opponent by the day. He no longer went easy on me, and despite being in so much pain after each session, I was thankful for it.<p>

"You've grown," Kabuto remarked as he deftly manoeuvred his arm to block my oncoming kick. I could feel the buzz of his chakra in the air as he focused it around his other hand, like a glowing blade. I panicked. I knew what that meant.

The first time Kabuto has used his chakra to physically injure me was one I'll never forget; he had severed my hamstring during training a couple weeks ago, and despite healing it on the spot, it was extremely painful. He often used this technique in training nowadays to test my speed and agility, and I had to do everything in my power to evade it.

I leapt a safe distance away just as his hand swung past my torso. That was a close one; a little too close for comfort. I needed to work on my speed. Kabuto said my taijutsu was boarding on exceptional, commenting on how quickly I had picked it up. While that was all well and true, I still had not developed any sign of chakra, and it confused me.

After setting a safe distance, I lowered my stance. "Kabuto, why have I no chakra yet?"

Kabuto, seeing my guard lowered, did the same.

"Don't worry about that. You're probably just a late bloomer. It will appear soon, and when it does, I will teach jutsu to you."

I sighed and accepted his answer. As I shifted back into an attack stance, Kabuto raised his hand and stopped me.

"Training is over for today," Kabuto sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I have to attend to some errands, so run along now." And with that, Kabuto vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sighing, I sank down to my knees, and the full force of the pain inflicted from the training session washed over me. Grunting, I waited until the pain faded to a dull ache, and pushed myself to my feet.

I decided to take the long way back to the room, as over the past month, subordinates had begun to depart, so it was safer for me to walk around by myself. Plus, I knew Sasuke wouldn't be back in the room yet. That boy did nothing but train from sunrise till sunset. So what was the point in getting back to the room early with there being nothing to in there besides… well, nothing?

Exiting the training chamber, I set off for the long way back. I was lucky to pass no one on my endeavour back; most were either out on missions, training, or something else. It was only around two in the afternoon. My stomach growled, but I refused to go back to the mess hall. I planned on soaking my muscles under a stream of searing hot water, and then sleep. Eating could wait.

The air hung dryly in the air. There was a breeze that flitted through the endless hallways, but I had no idea where it'd come from. I knew there was a way outside, and I'd be damned if I couldn't find it. I longed to see outside. My only memories of the outside were of the grass clearing feathering out into dirt, then to desert. Other than that, I had no idea what the outside of the world looked like. Was it beautiful? Was it safe? Or was it deadly? Were there other towns around? Cities perhaps? What about the other people? Were they all ninja? Did everyone live in bases like this one?

With each and every day that passed, these questions gnawed at my insides. I was desperate to see the outside again and longed to breathe fresh air. All in good time, I would constantly assure myself. If my plan were to work, then I'd have to be excruciatingly patient. My plan was to begin with me getting frustrated with training. I'd complain that I wanted to improve my speed and accuracy, and suggest to Kabuto that in order to further enhance my training we should practise outside. Once he would agree, then the rest of the plan was pretty simple.

I was going to run.

I'd go as fast and as far away as my legs would carry me, and I would not stop until I was far, far away from this place. Even if it took hours, days, or even weeks, I'd be rid of this place, even if it killed me. I'd keep going to the ends of the earth, to hell and ba—

"…_how… training… Shan…"_

My body and thoughts all stopped at once when I heard two familiar voices coming from a door to my right.

"…_she… improving…"_

"…_but…?"_

Cautiously, I approached the door and listened, hard.

"_Her…chakra… non-existent…"_

I recognized Kabuto's voice, and I assumed the other one was Orochimaru's. It wasn't hard to guess; Kabuto practically lived by Orochimaru's side, and he never socialized with anyone else, unless he was training me.

"…_What should… about it…?"_

My heart quickened at the realization that they were speaking about me. Pressing my ear against the door, I could hear them much clearer.

"_What do you mean her chakra is non-existent?"_

"_She has no trace of it, my Lord; no spark, nothing."_

A pause.

"_Apologies; but correct me if I'm wrong, Kabuto: didn't you say the girl's training was improving?"_

"_I need not correct you, my Lord; her training is improving."_

A loud slam from the other side of the door caused me to flinch.

"_Then how is it that she has not yet learned one simple jutsu?"_

Another long pause.

"_Fine. See to it that if by the end of the week she has not developed chakra, have her taken care of."_

My body went limp. A huge knot of dread daringly formed in the pit of my stomach, and suddenly, I felt sick, and disgustingly heavy. If I were to be declared anything right at this very second, naive would definitely not be it. I knew what Orochimaru meant, no matter how much I wanted to disbelieve it.

Before I knew what was happening, my legs were carrying me back to the room at break neck speed. As I ran, I could feel the hot, salty onset of tears. Soon enough, one broke free and slid down my cheek, shortly followed by a second and a third.

I didn't stop running until I had reached the door to the room. Wrenching it open, I flung myself inside, slammed the door and slumped down to the ground, tears falling all the while. Bringing my knees up to my chest, heavy sobs threatened to tear their way out, but with every ounce of physical strength I had left, I held them in, and instead opted for silent, wide-eyed tears.

"So, you've finally figured it out."

Snapping my head up, I see that it was none other than the Uchiha that spoke. Even in the dim light in the room, his eyes were more piercing and deadly than ever; they flickered dangerously, despite the low light. He was positioned on the foot of his bed, paused mid-stroke, his long, slender blade gleaming in the dimness of the room.

"W-what?" I stammered.

Sasuke said nothing as his emotionless-pitted eyes continued to bore straight through mine. My mind was in a daze, and nothing seemed clear, but his eyes said all I needed to know. And then, it clicked.

My eyes went wide.

"You…" I breathed. "You knew the whole time… and didn't tell me?"

Saying nothing, the Uchiha went back to sharpening his sword in long, lean, practised strokes. Nothing could be heard except the repetitive, metallic stroking and my own rapid heartbeat drumming against my ears. Slowly, my mind began to piece everything together. The innocent naivety regarding this place was shattered before my very eyes within an instant. Everything was suddenly made frighteningly clear.

It didn't take a genius to figure it out. If I was going to get out of this place alive, I knew what had to be done.

Pulling myself up off the stone floor, I cautiously made my way over to the Uchiha. Sucking in a deep breath and gathering all of what pride I had left, I knelt down so that my eyes were level with his. Ceasing his movements, the Uchiha's hard and calculating gaze lifted up to meet mine, scrutinizing my every move.

"Then help me."

I swear that if I had blinked at that precise moment, I would have missed the flicker in his eyes. His cruel and calculating gaze was now just calculating. Relief overwhelmed me when I realized that Sasuke was actually considering my plea. But whether I liked to admit it or not, I needed Sasuke's help.

My escape would be assured if I could somehow use Sasuke as a means of a way out. My plan was still going to be going ahead as I had originally planned out, but it was just going to have to be executed sooner than later.

_Much_ sooner than later.

* * *

><p>Never in my whole life had I ever been so thankful to see the outside.<p>

Skinny trees loomed overhead, their sparsely dappled leaves lulling in the soft breeze. Warmth radiated from overhead, warming my back as I followed in-step beside Sasuke to his training ground. Looking around, I couldn't help but notice how… tranquil the landscape was. Despite the dark, brooding atmosphere what was the definition of Sasuke, it baffled me to learn he undertook his training in a place that was the exact antithesis to who he was.

Shifting my gaze away from our surroundings, I glanced sideways at the boy walking beside me. His dark, stony expression was fixated forward, always cold and calculating. I was about to revert back to analysing the landscape, but my eyes remained on Sasuke. And I blinked. Hard.

Out of the whole four months I had been here at Sound, I had never had a chance to get a good look at Sasuke. The reason being because he was always off training, or out on a mission. But this time, the sickly orange glow that was forever present in the base was gone, and now, Sasuke's form came into clearer focus in the sunlight. His skin was a smooth, neutral off-ivory tone, and his features were handsome and prominent; a sleek tipped nose sank back into slender cheekbones and a masculine chin, before all fading into a strong neck and broad shoulders.

Forcing my gaze away before I was to be caught staring, I realized how far away we were from the base. Sasuke had transported the both of us out of the base using a jutsu, and then we were to walk to his training grounds. That was a good forty minutes ago. Judging by how many times I had to hop forward into step with the Uchiha, and by how long we have been walking, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the base was long behind us.

My heart rate picked up. I was now itching with excitement. Fear mixed with adrenaline coursed through my veins and drummed against my eardrums as I realized how easily my plan was falling into place. It was only a short matter of time before I could pinpoint my opportunity, and I could sense it was getting closer and closer as the seconds ticked by.

Glancing yet again at the brooding bastard beside me, I was thankful that his gaze was still fixated on the road ahead, and not on me. I hoped and prayed to every god out there that he could sense my change in heart rate; I mean, elite ninja could sense that stuff, right? All I had to do was wait just a little longer, and then I would be free.

I guessed that when I would escape, that Sasuke had one of two choices; he would either kill me right where I stood—after capturing me, of course—or just simply let me run, and report back to Orochimaru that I had been killed during a sparring match. And he, being the arrogant, soulless monster he was, would think nothing of it. I mean, I held no specific value to Orochimaru or his practises. Why would he question such a notion? He would just snatch up the next helpless piece of meat that came his way.

It felt relieving to think that if I managed to run away, that neither Sasuke nor Orochimaru would come looking for me. But, I couldn't help but think… where would I go from there? What would I do once I was free and far away from Sound? I had no map and certainly no geographical conception of this world, save for the base itself. Was there another village close by? Probably, probably not. How long would I have to walk in order to find it? I didn't know. Would I survive until then? Who knows.

Sighing, I glanced sideways at Sasuke. He was still gazing ahead of him with the same stony, almost bored expression on his face.

_There's no way a person like him would ever think twice about me,_ I mused to myself. _Maybe if I try to run, he would just let me, and save himself the embarrassment of returning to his beloved master with the not-so-sad news of my death during a sparring match. I mean, I was going to die by the weeks' end anyways. Why drag out the process?_

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped.

Turning back to him, his gaze was fixated on me. It made me feel uneasy, but I tried to appear unfazed. It looked like this was it. But how was I going to run? As I looked around, we were in a large clearing. There was a small river that flowed about one hundred metres to my right partially hidden my dense shrubs. To my left were about a dozen aiming posts that were riddled with countless punctures and slashes. Other than that, the clearing was bare, only surrounded by trees and nothing more.

Turning back to Sasuke, he had his sword unsheathed, but he held it stationary by his side. He was ready to spar. If I were to wait until after training, I'd have no energy left to run, let alone fight him off if he tries to pursue me. One thing was certain at this very point in time, and it was that I had to run.

Now.

* * *

><p>As the Uchiha unsheathed his sword, the brat turned around. Her eyes scanned the area quickly. It appeared that she was surveying the area around her. Smart move, but if she were to keep it up any longer, he'd attack her anyway. Better to learn on the job, the Uchiha silently thought.<p>

But as the boy braced himself to attack the girl, she held up her hands.

Sasuke glared at the girl, but said nothing. Avoiding his gaze, she spoke.

"I need to… uh… use the bathroom…" she muttered, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Sheathing his sword and folding his arms across his chest, the Uchiha nicked his head to the side to the direction of the stream in his silent acknowledgement of her request. Bowing quickly, the girl turned and began to walk toward the bushes by the stream.

Honestly, the boy had no idea why he had agreed to help her. She hadn't begged, which was surprising. She simply levelled with him, and had asked as a request. It was different from what he was used to. Usually, subordinates would try to befriend the Uchiha in the hopes that Orochimaru would consider them in high regard if they were good enough to 'be friends' with the Uchiha prodigy.

But, she hadn't.

In fact, the brat seemed to despise him, as well as the base, along with Orochimaru and Kabuto. He could tell she hated being in Sound. But who didn't? The Uchiha would certainly not disagree with that statement. Once he had what he wanted, he would dispose of Orochimaru, and then proceed to pursue his real goal.

Shaking his mind of these thoughts, the boy focused on the task at hand. He had a sneaking suspicion that the girl didn't really need to use the bathroom; that maybe all that training with Kabuto had led her to use dirty, underhanded tricks during battle. He thought for a moment. He wouldn't put it past Kabuto to teach the brat a few things here and there.

So, that was why he had activated his Sharingan as the girl had turned away. Sasuke would certainly not be made a fool of, that much was decided. He would _definitely not _be made a fool of, especially by that brat.

* * *

><p>Pushing through the bushes, I made sure to be completely out of Sasuke's sight before I could figure out where to run. The plan was going surprisingly smoothly, although I could not shake the fact that something was about to go wrong.<p>

_Come on,_ I urged myself. _There's no room for doubt here! You're almost there! All you need to do is get your compass bearings and figure out which direction the base is in, and simply head the opposite way of that!_

Inhaling and exhaling, I began to formulate. I figured out that the base was west of here, so I needed to head east. Simple enough, I supposed. Getting to my feet, I brushed myself off, and made sure to be still completely out of Sasuke's sight before I began to run.

* * *

><p>The Uchiha broke out into a run.<p>

His Sharingan informed him that not only was the brat running at full pelt, she was running in the opposite direction. Tailing after her, the stoic boy was baffled at her suddenly strange behaviour. And then it dawned on him. This was not a battle strategy.

She was running away.

Picking up speed as he leapt up into the trees, it didn't take long for the boy to spot the girl darting through the shrubs and trees. Sasuke kept to the trees, until he felt it right to capture her. There was no telling what secrets of the base this girl knew, and whether if she was a spy or not, he could not stand by and idly let this girl escape knowing what secrets that she knew. He had not a clue as to whom she was working for, but pulling her escape days before Orochimaru would kill her was evidence enough that she was a spy and was cutting her mission short.

Though he despised admitting it, this brat was quite the little actress. She had posed as a weakling who had nowhere else to turn, thus her spunky attitude, yet utterly blank background would interest Orochimaru greatly. She gathered information on Orochimaru and his whereabouts, on Kabuto's experiments, and also on the location of the missing-nin himself.

One thing was certain: this girl had to be stopped.

Wasting no time at all, Sasuke leapt up in the air, out of the trees and tackled the girl. She uttered a yelp of surprise as she fell to the ground hard. On his feet, Sasuke strode over to the girl, but she saw him coming, and began to run again.

Darting through the thickening forest, Sasuke caught up to the girl easily. Drawing out several kunai and shuriken from the weapons seal on his wrist, he launched them with a burst of chakra. The barrage hit the girl on target, and she collapsed, skidding on the ground and finally hitting the base of a tree.

The Uchiha was on her quickly, summoning more kunai to pin her garments into the hard ground and tree trunk behind her. Though the girl was covered in lacerations, was loosing blood and was pinned to the ground, she wrenched free of the kunai and launched a few right back at Sasuke. He avoided them easily, but now, the girl was scrambling to her feet and preparing to run, yet again.

Reaching his last nerve, Sasuke ran after her. The girl's speed was no match for her pursuer's, so she was caught easily. Grunting as she was hurled to the ground, she found herself pinned up against a tree; the Uchiha's large hand clasped around both of her tiny wrists, while his knees were pinned down on both of her feet.

Her chest heaved up and down with every hoarse breath she took. The lacerations from earlier were still oozing blood, staining the tree trunk. Her blood red hair was wild about her face, which was fixated into a hard glare. But despite her attempt to look tough, the Uchiha noticed the icy-cold fear in her eyes. It was not a fear of getting caught, but of something… something that the boy could not place.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, trying to writhe out from the Uchiha's iron grasp. "Get off! Let me go, you asshole!"

The Uchiha refused to move.

"Who do you work for?" Sasuke demanded, his voice deep and low.

The girl only continued to writhe, and did not answer.

Leaning forward so that their faces were inches apart, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and bored into her eyes.

"Don't _push_ me, brat," he seethed, tightening his grip on her wrists as he plunged a knee into her stomach. The girl coughed and gasped desperately for air.

"_Fuck_ you!" she spat vehemently, and with that, Sasuke threw her to the ground and greeted her stomach once again, this time, with his foot.

Curling into herself, the brat struggled to breathe. Her clothes were stained with blood and she was covered with dirt. She looked pathetic.

"Now, I'm going to say this once, and I'm going to say it slow; who do you work for?" Sasuke demanded, his voice loud but stern nonetheless.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about," the girl replied, pulling herself up to her knees.

Landing another satisfying kick to her midsection, Sasuke repeated the question over and over, responding to each answer she gave with a swift, brutal kick to her midsection.

"Who do you work for?"

"Bastard! I swear I don't know what you're talking about!"

_Kick._

"Who do you work for?"

"Stop it! Leave me alone! I don't know what you're talking about!"

Again.

"Who do you work for?"

"_I said I don't know—!"_

"—_Who do you work for?"_

Too beaten down to answer, the girl whimpered, clutching her midsection while tears sprung from her eyes. Her breathing came out in short, ragged breaths. Anger boiled within him. The girl was obviously not revealing anything.

His anger getting the best of him, Sasuke grabbed the girl by the scruff of the neck, picked her up and slammed her against the tree. Her head lolled to the side as blood trickled past her lip with each and every ragged breath she took.

It seemed like forever that the two remained there. Sasuke's grip never faltered while the girl just lolled against his grip, trying to calm down her breathing.

"…F-fine…"

Sasuke's head perked up.

"I… I'll… tell you what you want to know," Shan muttered softly.

Sasuke tightened his iron grip around her neck. "Then talk."

"There… there is no one, Sasuke," she sighed heavily. "I'm not working f-for anyone; I don't… I don't even know how I came to be here in the first place, but… but please believe me when I say to you that I'm just trying to… to get back home."

A low growl emitted from Sasuke's throat as he hoisted her higher.

"But… but if that means going through you, Orochimaru and Kabuto, then…" She lifted her head to meet with his gaze. "Then I'll do whatever it takes… and by God, I'll do anything and everything in my power to escape you and that snake bastard, and you'd _damn _well better believe that. There is no way I'd let you tear me down; you can take everything I have, you can break everything I am, like I'm made of glass, but I _will_ be rising up from the ground higher than each time before. You can count on that, you bastard."

* * *

><p>I hit the ground hard as Sasuke finally relieved me of his iron grip. Gasping for air, I looked up to see Sasuke standing over me. Tensing all the muscles in my body I prepared for the worst. He had already thrown countless weapons at me, tackled me from behind, slammed me against a tree, and kicked the shit out of me, and I was afraid of what he was going to do now.<p>

But instead, when I looked up, he had his hand held out.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you liked that! It was actually pretty easy to finish off. I had written everything up until just before Shan and Sasuke are walking, and the rest just seemed to flow! So please review with your thoughtssuggestions/criticism! I'm open to all and any.**

**Now, if you review, I'll send you people the site where you can download a whole stack of Naruto Shippuden background music for free! You can even download Sasuke's theme in the series, along with tonnes of battle music and sorrowful stuff! I did it last week, and I promise you, it costs nothing. None of those gay surveys or whatever. Just straight downloads!**


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